from an inspired vision.

Allen Plaza is named in honor of former Atlanta mayor - and renowned civil rights leader - the late Ivan Allen, Jr. Mr. Allen served from 1962 to 1970. He is credited with leading the city through an era of historic cultural and economic growth - and with maintaining calm during the civil rights movement.

moving Atlanta forward for everyone.

Upon entering office, Mayor Allen quickly established himself as a progressive leader over a city that was 40 percent African American, yet almost entirely segregated. In fact, he ordered all "white" and "colored" signs removed from city hall and he desegregated the building's cafeteria.

Mayor Allen worked closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and led a banquet of Atlanta's black and white leaders to honor King when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was the only southern elected official to testify before Congress in support of the public accommodations section of President John F. Kennedy's proposed civil rights bill.

During his tenure, Atlanta ranked in the top ten in the nation in downtown construction. In 1981, he received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize, presented by Coretta Scott King. He died on July 2, 2003, at the age of 92. No doubt, Ivan Allen, Jr. would be proud to know his legacy and his good name extend to a project as monumental as the new Allen Plaza.