© 2025 WUGA | University of Georgia
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Down In It, from WUGA, Athens
Down In It

The Saye Building - Episode 1 - How it started

By Lara Dua-Swartz
Published March 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM EDT
Ways To Subscribe
Down In It, from WUGA, Athens
Lara Dua-Swartz
/
WUGA
Down In It, from WUGA, Athens

The story seems pretty cut and dry. Just as the petition states, “For over a century, the Saye Building has been a cornerstone of downtown Athens…and now it faces demolition - for only about a dozen parking spaces.” In a lot of ways, it IS that simple. But it’s also not, as I discovered when I fell into this ridiculous rabbit hole. To really understand where we are today, we have to go back to the beginning.

The corner of Lumpkin and Hancock, where the 100-year-old Saye Building stands.
Lara Dua-Swartz
/
WUGA
The 100-year-old Saye building, located on the corner of Lumpkin and Hancock.

The Saye Building
Lara Dua-Swartz
A native New Yorker, Lara is new to Athens, having just moved to this delightfully quirky town in 2021. She’s been working in broadcasting for the last 25 years in markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and Atlanta. When she’s not at WUGA, you can find Lara covered in cats, playing D&D, or skating (as a rookie) with the Classic City Roller Girls.
See stories by Lara Dua-Swartz