Submitted by  Marion Hay ('55)

I was over in Albany the other day and took a few pictures of the Radium Springs Botanical Gardens progress. The images are of minimum construction and landscaping. I had to tippy toe outside the construction fence to take the pictures and as a side note the images aren't very good. The river was in the flood stage and the water all around the spring was red and polluted looking, and the island was under water. That will clear up as soon as the water recedes. A man stopped by that lives in the neighborhood while I was taking the photographs and told me that the county had torn down the Casino and now they were throwing two million dollars away on the new facilities. Sometimes ignorance is unjustifiable and I can't stand it. I told him to just be patient and wait until everything was complete; that I believed that he and the residents would be quite pleased with the results. He had a bad attitude and I almost asked him where was he when we were trying to save the Casino. But I was nice and just smiled at him. He was truly a CAVE man----"citizens against virtually everything". I think that when they finish they will have a beautiful project of which Albanians will be proud. These images have been sent to you and only you and I apologize for their quality so do with them what you would like. Marion

Note:  Marion Hay did incredible work on the Radium Springs Casino Preservation Group, formed April 12, 2003

Submitted by  Gail and Brinson Phillips ('54)

Gail and I were riding around this afternoon and went by Radiuim.  These are some pictures I took.  They are building something over where the old Casino was, using the same footings that the Casino was built on according to one of the Mexican woorkers that was there.  He said it was to be a gardenk, but I have never seen a garden with walls like this.

The Rape of Radium

Submitted by Tom Greenstone ('54)

Tom Greenstone is known for being blunt, and that's the least of it.  He named this section - and he meant every word.  Many others who grew up with Radium as their second home are quite sensitive over Albany's destruction of the Casino and Pavilion.  

Greenstone's pictures show areas of an area once named one of "Georgia's Seven Natural Wonders."  Areas have been allowed to be overtaken by ugliness since it was destroyed in October 2003.  But Albany now has plans to partially bring back "our wonder" as a Botanical Garden, and in some of the pictures you can begin to see the promise of possibilities ... the Casino and Pavilion are gone forever ... except in our hearts and memories!!!

For a webpage display of more of Dr. Greenstone's PhotoArt work, Click here: Tom Greenstone's PhotoArt