“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” That’s what Winston Churchill told his colleagues in the House of Commons during World War II as they debated rebuilding their bombed out chamber. He was right: buildings matter. A city’s physical landscape has a huge impact on the lives of the people who call the community home. Think about the cultural enrichment the resurrected Miller Theater has brought to Augusta over the years. It opened in February 1940 with a sold out performance of A Night at the Moulin Rouge and in the next few days is hosting acts as diverse as comedian DC Young Fly and saxophonist Kenny G. Or, what about the whimsical Children’s Hospital of Georgia? The grand and storied Sacred Heart Cultural Center? Augusta is home to many iconic structures that have shaped life in our city. When Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate Company’s commercial division is asked to assist with transitioning one of these structures… well, we couldn’t be prouder. Recently, we worked with a client to sell the historic Lamar Building, which for many years was the tallest building in the city. Started in 1913 when Broad Street was a dirt road, it was finally completed in 1918. The Great Fire of 1916 forced crews to demolish the building and restart. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, the Lamar was topped in 1976 with a contemporary penthouse (affectionately dubbed “the toaster” by Augustans). IM Pei, the same architect who conceived the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre in Paris and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, designed it. Architectural critic James Howard Kunstler labeled Augusta’s quirky penthouse his Eyesore of the Month in July 2011, saying that Pei’s addition is reminiscent of a Darth Vader helmet. Love it or hate it, we think the Lamar Building (toaster included) is a great structure with a great story, and we were delighted to tell it to prospects.