After a comprehensive review earlier this year, the National Park Service
has downgraded the status of Savannah’s National Historic Landmark District to “threatened” from “satisfactory.” According to
the Savannah Morning News,
The park service based the status change on the impact of new construction on the Oglethorpe plan; the vulnerability of archeological resources, historic pavement, and cultural landscapes; threats from natural disasters; and a series of intangible threats like noise and traffic.
A specific example cited by the Parks Service was failure to restore part of the historic street pattern as part of the construction of a new cultural arts center downtown.
A department memo regarding the district’s downgrade from a “satisfactory” status notes that instead of restoring the historic downtown street pattern by opening up West Oglethorpe Lane, the city’s arts center is being built over the former roadway.
The city is already taking steps to address some of the problems that resulted in the downgrade.
Mayor Eddie DeLoach said Tuesday that the city agreed with many of the park service’s recommendations, while citing some of the steps the city is taking to protect the district’s integrity. Those actions include the pending adoption of ordinances to protect archaeological resources and historical infrastructure. In addition, DeLoach said the city intends to reach out to create a panel of partners to study the recommendations and develop an action plan for upgrading the district’s status.
“The report itself states no single entity can care for a historic district alone,” he said.
Daniel Carey, the president of the
Historic Savannah Foundation, is
quoted by WSAV News 3:
“Well, I think it’s a fire bell in the night. I think it's time for us to pay close attention to what we’re doing to this resource that is fragile and that's important and that is kind of the backbone of our identity, so we really need to take much better care of it than we are. ... Right now, I still think it’s a warning that things are not as peachy keen as everybody would like to think they are and we have a lot of work to do to protect this resource. It’s very fragile and we can’t take it for granted. ... I think it puts a lot of pressure on the community to sound off and to speak up about those things and not just leave it to the Historic District Board of Review or the Metropolitan Planning Commission or even to the city council.”
Jim Morekis, editor of the
local alt-weekly Connect Savannah, describes the view of many of Savannah’s downtown residents:
The public response was quick and angry, much along the lines of “We tried to warn you about all those new hotels.”
While the report neither focuses only on hotels nor does it revoke the District status, it’s remarkable how quickly the report tapped into what is obviously a preexisting vein of serious public angst over new development downtown.
Morekis continues in a
follow-up piece:
[T]he same week the National Park Service officially put the Savannah National Historic Landmark District on their "Threatened" list, an iconic historic building next to City Hall was sold to condo developers from Florida. ...
[T]he City of Savannah is continuing to sell off key historic assets in the name of development — even as our symbolically and economically crucial National Historic Landmark District status is threatened.
The latest example is the purchase of the historic Gamble Building next to City Hall by The Foram Group, a longtime South Florida firm which recently relocated its headquarters to Savannah.
If that name sounds familiar, it should: Foram is the same company involved in the deeply controversial and divisive Starland Village project, which seems to enjoy a hefty amount of political support from the City.
The City of Madison would do well to take notice. It can happen here.
