Callanwolde Fine Arts Center on Briarcliff Road is on this year's Phoenix Flies tour.

With 56 activities planned and 30 historic sites on the program, the fourth annual Phoenix Flies aims to get Atlantans – many of them new to the South – up close and personal with its diverse history.

The weeklong "celebration of living landmarks" runs March 4 –12 and most events are free, according to organizer Boyd Coons, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center.

This year, two new "preservation partners" have been added to Phoenix Flies, Spelman College, which will give tours of the newly renovated Sisters Chapel, which dates to 1927, and the Georgia Battlefields Association, which is offering a tour of 1864 Battle of Atlanta site in Inman Park.

One of the biggest components is free guided tours of some of the city’s most famous landmarks. "Each experience is unique," Coons said. "We want visitors to understand what a rich history Atlanta has, and how having preservation gives the city a richer environment. A truly progressive city has preservation as part of its planning element."

The Preservation Center is also hoping the community will get involved during special workdays at Grant Park (March 4, 9 a.m to noon) and Oakland Cemetery (March 11, 9 a.m. to noon) to help clean up the sites.

The only event not directly related to Atlanta is a lecture on restoration efforts in New Orleans by Lary Hesdorffer, director of the Vieux Carre Commission, at Rhodes Hall on Sunday, March 12, 3-5 p.m., $5 admission.

Coons said the lecture will have resonance for Atlanta. "There is deep concern about New Orleans, because its history is threatened by rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina," he said. "In a way, what’s going on there points out that struggle that cities have in trying to keep the best of the past and incorporate growth in the future."

The Atlanta Preservation Center, a nonprofit organization, has worked to preserve more than 160 endangered buildings, neighborhoods and historic areas since 1980.

APC has been overseeing the restoration of the 1857 Grant Mansion in Grant Park, which will eventually become its headquarters. The organization also publishes an annual list of the city’s "at-risk" properties to highlight the need for preservation.

The 19 Preservation Partners are: Academy of Medicine, Atlanta Cyclorama, Atlanta History Center, Atlanta Preservation Center, Atlanta Urban Design Commission, Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, Chastain Arts Center, Fox Theatre, Georgia Battlefields Association, Georgia State Capitol, Grant Park Conservancy, Historic Oakland Foundation, Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and Preservation District, Piedmont Park Conservancy, Rhodes Hall and The Georgia Trust, Sisters Chapel at Spelman College, Underground Atlanta and Wren’s Nest House Museum.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.preserveatlanta.com.