From a street named after a civil rights icon, passing motorists now can see the stately remains of a restored hotel once owned by a top Confederate general. The irony isn’t lost on The Longstreet Society, which is considering several improvements to the grounds surrounding the Piedmont Hotel, including a pedestrian entrance off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. “We really would like to use the MLK address … but we can’t get the cut for a driveway there,” said Richard Pilcher, who helped found the 21-year-old Gainesville-based group, which is dedicated to preserving the memory of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet.