the ellis square fountain
back to the future The foundation of Gen. James E. Oglethorpe’s city plan was uniformity, but Savannah has shown over the years that it also prizes creativity, even when it’s mixed with a little controversy. Ellis Square abounds with people these days as residents and tourists alike are charmed by its multi-use, open-space concept that gives children an opportunity to play, parents an underground place to park, and music lovers an occasion to pose next to a life-size statue of Savannah songwriter Johnny Mercer. It was much like that in 1733 in another plan, Gen. James Oglethorpe’s original concept for the city. Early Decker Ward residents gathered in the square to socialize, and to participate in military drills. Its character changed, however, in 1763, when the city market shifted there from Wright Square. Over the next 191 years, four separate market structures stood in the square. The last one, an enormous Savannah-grey brick structure which welcomed customers for more than 80 years, was razed in 1954 to make room for a parking garage. Preservations seethed in the wake of that decision, and formed Historic Savannah Foundation the next year. In 2005, a short time after the parking lot’s lease expired, it too fell to the wrecking ball. Contracting with the architectural firm of Lominack Kolman Smith, the city turned back the clock. The project took several years to complete, and included
14 public meetings to discuss design principles, but the result became an immediate downtown attraction upon its opening in 2010. Its features include the four-level, 1,065-space parking garage, a visitors center, performance spaces, a fountain, and an adjacent plaza that’s a perfect place to sit and enjoy the ambience. Again filled with people and conversations, it has brought back the spirit of the Colonial-era Ellis Square. The venerable Telfair Academy seemed an unlikely agent for the loudest architectural argument in the city’s history. Constructed as a Regency-style mansion in 1818-1819 by acclaimed architect William Jay, and converted to an art museum in 1886 by American Institute of Architects cofounder Detlef Lienau, the institution thereafter reflected the rectitude of its benefactress, Mary Telfair. That is, until 1998. In July of that year, the Telfair announced that it planned an expansion, a new building to house its collection of 20th and 21st-century art. A short time later, a committee unanimously chose Moshe Safdie and Associates Inc. to fashion the new Telfair building. After that, unanimity was in short supply.
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