GARLINGTON APPOINTED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014
Historic Macon Foundation, Inc. announced today that Ethiel Garlington has been recruited to serve as its next Executive Director. Garlington is expected to assume his duties on March 10, 2014.
“Historic Macon and Macon are both going to benefit immensely from Garlington’s leadership,” said outgoing Executive Director Josh Rogers, “I look forward to cooperating as I transition to my new position at NewTown Macon in April.”
Relocating from his native home in East Tennessee, Garlington has served as the Director of Preservation Field Services for Knox Heritage since 2008. During his tenure at Knox Heritage, Garlington founded the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance (ETPA) and provided preservation and economic development services to the Alliance’s sixteen county region. Among his most prominent accomplishments, Garlington structured a partnership among the Department of Energy, the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, the Tennessee Historical Commission and local officials to enable private developers to invest $4.5 million to save endangered properties from the Manhattan Project (the uranium processing plant in Oak Ridge) to be reused as an assisted living facility. “Garlington’s experience building partnerships, leveraging private resources and managing large adaptive reuse projects allows Historic Macon to continue from strength to strength,” said Board Chair Joy Dyer, endorsing his prior success.
Thanks to support from the Knight Fund for Macon and the Charles E. Roberts Fund, both held by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Historic Macon hired Hanbury Preservation Consulting to conduct an exhaustive national search to find Garlington. Garlington holds an undergraduate degree from Presbyterian College and a Master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia. He is also a certified Real Estate Development Finance Professional and a certified Travel Marketing Professional.
Garlington and his wife are excited about the move to Macon. “Historic Macon Foundation is one of the nation’s leading preservation organizations and it’s an honor to serve as the next Executive Director,” said Garlington, “Michelle and I couldn’t be more excited about moving back to Georgia and playing an integral role in the continued renaissance of Downtown Macon and the unparalleled architectural gems.”
Entering its fiftieth-anniversary year in 2014, the organization was recently recognized for leading the state in preservation projects. Chair-Elect and Search Committee Chair Heather Moore stated, “We needed the top talent in the historic preservation movement to keep our momentum, and we found it in Ethiel Garlington. I could not be more confident about the future of preservation in Macon.”