A Link to the Past and a Key to the Future: Restoring Savannah's Civic Center in Accordance with the Oglethorpe Plan
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Pinkston, Emily
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This study focuses on the 17-acre Elbert Square/Savannah Civic Center site on the west side of downtown Savannah, Georgia. Elbert Square existed as part of the Oglethorpe Plan grid in Savannah from 1796 until the 1930s before being destroyed to make way for US Highway 17. Since the 1970s, Savannah’s Civic Center has occupied a 7-acre block just east of the square, but City Council recently declared the structure obsolete and voted to tear it down. Now, the site’s future is in question. This study proposes restoring the Elbert Square/Civic Center site in accordance with the original Oglethorpe Plan, with a few creative accommodations made for modern circumstances. The site’s center street, McDonough Street, will become a pedestrian mall intended to serve Savannah’s arts community. Additionally, the Civic Center’s arcade wall will remain standing to commemorate the site’s 20th century history and add an exciting visual element to the site.