The inconvenient Civil War did cause Atlanta trauma .....

From the AP

The Atlanta Cyclorama, a colossal Civil War painting created about 130 years ago, is leaving the building it has occupied since 1921 to move across town.

Cyclorama officials said Tuesday was the last day visitors could see the 15,000-square-foot oil painting in Atlanta's Grant Park neighborhood. The panoramic painting is displayed in a cylinder that rotates slowly as a narrator describes its content.

The painting will now be prepared for its move across town to a new addition being built at the Atlanta History Center in the Buckhead area.

The task of moving the 358-foot-long, 42-foot-high painting won't be easy. Officials said the process will include making giant scrolls of the artwork and then extracting it from the building through a wall or the roof.

"This is an unparalleled thing for us, but, hey, we're up for this," said Gordon Jones, a curator at the history center. "We're happy. It's the best thing for the artifact. I think it's the best thing for the city."

Last year, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced the move as the city commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta, which is the subject of the artwork.

The Cyclorama was painted by a group of German artists at the American Panorama Co. in Milwaukee in the mid-1880s.

Officials said the painting should be open to the public by 2017.