On January 5th, 2026, local news stations reported that an old, empty building frequented by the homeless went up in flames. It doesn’t sound too out of the ordinary, but this building was, well…special.

Before it housed a TV station…

My research came up with multiple stories about the origin of this building. One historian’s Facebook page posted that the house was built in 1969, and was owned by the Shepherd Family. This family owned a construction company on the property, and the adjacent road that connects Briarcliff Road to Lavista Road is Shepherds Lane. James Shepherd, the son of Harold and Alana Shepherd, suffered a severe spinal injury from a diving accident in the early 1970s. This event prompted Harold and Alana to create and fund the Shepherds Spinal Center.

Later….

According to the AJC archives, the building housed the Christian Broadcasting Network (call letters: WANX) from 1974 until Tribune Broadcasting purchased it in 1983. By March of 1984, Tribune changed the call letters to WGNX and went on to become Atlanta’s top independent station, airing Atlanta Hawks games and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Then on January 15, 1989, Georgia’s News at Ten premiered. Originally thirty minutes in length, the newscast expanded to an hour in 1990.

April, 1992

My husband and I moved to the Atlanta area from New York. We were married for two years, and things were not too good. There was a recession, and my husband lost his job four months earlier. His parents invited us down to look around and search for work. He applied to every major corporation and business, while I applied to all the TV Stations.

Within a week, I received a call from Carol Lynde, the chief photographer. of WGNX. After reviewing my package reel, she added me to the freelance list and arranged to call me when needed.

On April 29th, I received my first call.

” Hey Elyse, it’s Carol, have you been watching the news? We could really use you now!!”

On this day, the People of the State of California v. Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind, Theodore J. Briseno, and Stacey C. Koon trial reached this verdict, resulting in riots in major cities lasting more than 24 hours.

My husband drove me as far away from the city center as possible. I was following the choppers and saw the smoke. My news adrenaline rush is in full swing; my husband thought I was nuts. He stayed around to pick me up at the end of the night.

The machines were set up identically as News 12, and frantic reporters came in with their packages.

I tracked….

packaged the best I could,…..

then introduced myself.

Welcome to the world of news.

I took in video feeds from the Atlanta University Campuses, where most of the rioting took place. One scene that stands out for me was of a campus officer bending down to pick up a rock and throwing it at the police. The University saw our footage and immediately terminated that officer.

I also remember my first package. LuAnn Sodano covered a nonviolent protest organized by Dr. Joseph Lowery and John Lewis. I had time to incorporate the singing and speeches between the interviews.

I was called in quite often; eventually going full-time that summer. There was only one, one-hour-long news show at 10 PM. Unlike News 12, our newscast started with hard news, followed by specials and human-interest stories. Here I learned to use advanced post-production equipment. It wasn’t assembly-line, cut-and-paste editing. You can take your time and be creative.

That training led me to work on special segments, both serious (the Juvenile Justice System) and fun (Moore in Georgia). This is also where I received most of my award nominations and wins. ( 1 Emmy, 1 Silver Gavel, and 2 AP Awards )

We didn’t have as big staff or budget like the network affiliates. No chopper or traffic reporters. We did, though, have some of the best writers, reporters, photographers, and editors imagined. We may not have always had the big ratings, but we were recognized by the numerous awards we received.

Together, we worked beautifully. Friendships bloomed and prospered. It became a second home. Moving to a new city in itself is scary. You take many gambles, and this one surely paid off for me and my husband.

The building was small and seemed to be falling apart. Our sportscasters and weathermen worked out of closets. We had a long run from the edit bay to the control room. We would hold news meetings outside on the picnic tables. The edit bay was where everyone came to talk, laugh, and vent. You can say it had its own charm.

From 1992 to 1997, my husband found employment and earned his CPA. We bought a house and began our family. Our firstborn was actually the second-born at the station, for there were five of us expecting that year.

As the families grew, so did the station. In December 1994, it became Atlanta’s CBS affiliate. Gone was the nice, laid-back one-hour news; replaced by that assembly-line, cut-and-paste, 30-minute noon, 6, and 11 pm newscasts. We continued to do specials, just not as many and not as long.

By January 1998, it was time for me to take it easy. I was expecting my second child and chose to freelance. Tribune sold the station to The Meredith Corporation in 1999. They increased the number of newscasts, added a chopper, and made numerous staff changes. At one point, they changed the call letters and created what they called a more “positive”theme. It took off like a lead balloon.

The following year, the station moved to a larger, state-of-the-art studio in Midtown Atlanta. It was a nice building to work in, but it was missing that charm.

Thanks to social media, I connect with my colleagues and occasionally get together for reunions and brunches. I love seeing where everyone is now. Most of us are out of the news business, whether pursuing other fields (like teaching) or retired. The babies are now adults; some are newly married and pursuing big things (one is a doctor, his sister is going to be a doctor, and another is following in his mom’s journalistic footsteps). After catching up, we tell the same stories that we never tire of hearing. They bring us back to that wonderful time in our lives.

And it all started in this building.