Chatham County voters approved funding for Savannah’s new cultural arts center in a special purpose local option sales tax referendum way back in 2006.
The project has faced a variety of hurdles since then, including a steep decline in tax revenue during the recession, controversy over the bidding process and disagreement over the appropriate site.
I favored the site at Hall Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, but that location was later determined to lack sufficient room for parking. The city eventually decided to build the new arts center on the lot bounded by Oglethorpe Avenue, Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Montgomery Street
Last week, architect Patrick Shay of Gunn Meyerhoff Shay Architects unveiled the vision for the new building. The plans were well received during a workshop session of city council and at a public meeting at the current Henry Street home of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.
Since the new building is planned for a prominent lot in the heart of downtown, we should expect considerable scrutiny when the plans go before the Savannah Historic District Board of Review.
I suspect there will be some questions from board members about the west façade along MLK, and there will inevitably be questions about other elements.
The new cultural arts center will replace the space the city has been renting since 1997. The current building has some pretty serious limitations that hamper its use by the community.
The new building will have two performance spaces — a 500-seat theater and a smaller, more flexible theater that can hold 125. There will also be studios, classrooms and gallery space.
As the structure goes through the design review process, I hope that all interested parties realize the potential for those new spaces to enhance the arts in the city.
For example, if designed and outfitted appropriately, that larger theater could be used by a wide variety of community groups and could also host performances by touring acts.
Spoleto attendees probably already know the types of performances the festival produces in the 310-seat Emmett Robinson Theatre at the University of Charleston. I’ve seen a number of shows there, everything from a marionette opera with a small orchestra to Dean & Britta’s beautiful multimedia performance of songs based on 13 Andy Warhol screen tests.
That new theater could be a boon for the Savannah Music Festival, Savannah Jazz Festival, Savannah Philharmonic, Savannah Stopover and a variety of other organizations.
And I’m just talking about one of the key spaces in the new building.
We really have an opportunity here to do something special for the city as a whole and for the western edge of the Historic District.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.
