Stay in the know about the latest activities and achievements in our local community.
Applications open for Spotlight, Arts and Cultural Enrichment programs
The Savannah Cultural Arts Center is now accepting applications for the Spotlight Facility Use and Arts and Cultural Enrichment programs.
The Spotlight Facility Use Program provides a subsidy for nonprofit organizations to purchase rental space at a free or discounted rate from the Savannah Cultural Arts Center on select dates throughout the year. Applications for programming from dance to film to theater are now being accepted for four dates in September through November of this year.
An information session for Spotlight will be held on Thursday, July 11, at 12:30 p.m. This session is offered virtually via Zoom or in person at the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, 201 Montgomery St. Interested applicants are encouraged to attend in person to view the theater space.
RSVP for the event by email at [email protected].
The City of Savannah’s Arts and Cultural Enrichment (ACE) program provides funding to nonprofits for programming that expands access to art, history, culture, and creativity to new and diverse audiences in Savannah. Applications are open for programming taking place in 2025. An information session recording for ACE can be viewed on the Cultural Resources department website.
The application deadline for both programs is July 28 at 5 p.m. Visit savannahga.gov/arts for applications, guidelines, and additional program information. For any questions regarding these programs or their applications, call 912-651-6738.
Georgia Southern to host A Summer Celebration on July 8, 9 and 10
Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero and First Lady Jane Marrero are happy to announce that Georgia Southern University will host A Summer Celebration for faculty, staff, students, alumni and the community. Festivities at separate events on each of the university’s three campuses will include fresh fruit and Leopold’s ice cream. The events are free and open to the public.
The celebrations expand on the university’s long-standing tradition, begun by Georgia Southern President Zach Henderson in 1948, to provide a cool treat to the students, faculty and staff who are still on campus during the hot summer months. The fruit offerings also showcase local harvests and invite the local community onto campus.
A Summer Celebration dates and locations
Statesboro: July 8 from 10–11 a.m. | Statesboro Campus (on the Pedestrium near the Carruth Building), 6611 Forest Dr.
Hinesville: July 9 from 10–11 a.m. | Liberty Campus (outside of Student Commons), 175 W. Memorial Dr.
Savannah: July 10 from 10–11 a.m. | Armstrong Campus (on the Quad by the fountain), 11935 Abercorn St.
Tide to Town and City of Savannah break ground on final phase of Truman Linear Park Trail
Friends of Tide to Town and the City of Savannah held groundbreaking ceremonies for the final leg of the Truman Linear Park Trail on Monday, July 1. The event took place at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Costa Rica and E. 58th streets, in front of the Holly Heights Community Garden.
“It was exciting to turn dirt on this final three-mile section of the trail project,” said Armand Turner, Healthy Savannah’s physical activity program manager and Friends of Tide to Town board president. “Once completed, the total connected pathway will be approximately nine miles and will offer more opportunities for safe, healthy and stress-free pedestrian and bicycle access for many of Savannah’s minority and underserved neighborhoods.”
Healthy Savannah recently conducted a landscape assessment on the state of physical activity in Savannah and Chatham, gathering community feedback and assessments and observational measures, as well as input from groups including the Faith & Health Coalition and government partners. The ongoing assessment has shown that better access to City and County parks is a major opportunity and can be improved through various practices specific to the neighborhoods where underserved parks exist.
Healthy Savannah’s 2023 community survey findings further revealed that a majority of respondents answering questions about physical activity indicated they would use bike or walking paths such as the Tide to Town urban trail system to get to work, school and shopping or for recreation. This is 10 percent higher than last year’s responses and could be attributed to increased education about physical activity, programs like the weekly Healthy Walks and initiatives like Active People Healthy Savannah, and infrastructure improvements such as bike lanes and sidewalks.
Turner also recently discussed these findings at the Fourth Annual Placemaking Week Conference in Baltimore, as well as at the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists’ 2024 Annual Meeting in Minneapolis. Both events were held in June.
The first three miles of the Truman Trail were completed in 2020. This was the first segment of the larger Tide to Town urban trail network to be finished and extends from DeRenne Avenue south to Lake Mayer Community Park. Including the Lake Mayer Loop Path, the 4.5-mile stretch is a concrete multi-use path, with a timber boardwalk section and two bridges, providing an ADA accessible, off-road path for recreational and transportation use. It features lighting for nighttime use, security cameras, and emergency call boxes.
The final phase of the Truman will extend north from DeRenne Avenue and connect to the Police Memorial Trail, via 52nd Street. Construction will be managed by the City of Savannah.
Last year, the city awarded $10 million for the Tide to Town initiative, drawing on the anticipated income generated by the increase in Savannah’s hotel/motel taxes. The funds helped finance the planning and engineering of this project and the Middleground Road corridor located on Savannah’s south side.
Turner says this funding represents the largest commitment to non-motorized mobility in the city’s history.
When fully constructed, the Truman Trail will be approximately six miles long and will link 827 acres of existing parkland in Chatham County by connecting Lake Mayer to Daffin Park. Including the Daffin Park trail loop and the Lake Mayer trail loop, the total connected pathway will be approximately 9 miles.
Tide To Town, Savannah’s Urban Trail System, will be a protected network of walking and bicycling trails connecting all of Savannah’s neighborhoods, from the heart of the city to its marshes and waterways. The core of the trail system is a 30-mile route that encircles the city. Additional miles of connector paths will link priority neighborhoods as the system grows. Spur trails to popular destinations will also be added as the system expands outside of the City of Savannah.
“Overall, the Tide to Town trail project will link 75 percent of Savannah’s neighborhoods to safe walking and biking infrastructure when completed,” said Paula Kreissler, Healthy Savannah’s executive director and Tide to Town vice chair. “The project will also benefit from the $37 million allocated to restore the Historic Waterworks Building in west Savannah, since that project includes trails and sidewalks for the westside neighborhoods and links them into Tide to Town.”
Kreissler and Turner also recently joined Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Billy Jamerson III of the Bike Walk Savannah board to meet with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.
“We discussed the Tide To Town Trail and health equity in Savannah and shared significant efforts and achievements in our community,” said Turner. “It was truly remarkable for these initiatives to be recognized by the King and Queen. They showed great interest in our pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.”
Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Kreissler and Turner shared Tide To Town hats, shirts, and water bottles with community members.
The Friends of Tide to Town is a network of local partners that includes the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah as administrators of the Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. REACH Grant staff have conducted community outreach across various neighborhoods in Savannah, gathering feedback on the current need for increased pedestrian safety. For more details, please visit tidetotown.org/.
Savannah-Chatham County Historic Site and Monument Commission approves plan for monument in Columbia Square honoring seven female preservationists
The Savannah-Chatham County Historic Site and Monument Commission approved Phase 1 of a plan to erect a monument in Columbia Square dedicated to the seven female preservationists who saved the Isaiah Davenport House from demolition in 1955 and kickstarted the modern-day preservation movement in Savannah, Ga. The plan was approved by a unanimous vote.
The monument will honor Katharine Judkins Clark, Elinor Adler Dillard, Anna Colquitt Hunter, Lucy Barrow McIntire, Dorothy Ripley Roebling, Nola McEvoy Roos and Jane Adair Wright, who joined forces to raise the required funds to purchase the Davenport House to protect this iconic 1820 federal-style building from destruction and with others founded Historic Savannah Foundation.
The effort to design, build and install the monument was led by representatives of the descendants of the seven ladies. The new monument will be fabricated by Savannah’s own DePue Monument Company and will be installed at the edge of the brick paving centered behind two existing benches in the northern part of Columbia Square in the summer of 2025 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the saving of the Davenport House and the founding of Historic Savannah Foundation.
“In the 1950s, there was a downturn in the economy, and Jacksonville was tearing down historic buildings to build skyscrapers. Citizens were concerned that Savannah might follow suit,” said Lucy Brannen, the granddaughter of Lucy McIntire, who is helping to lead the initiative to install a permanent monument. “A local funeral home, located in what is now the Kehoe House, wanted to tear down the Davenport House and to use the land as a parking lot. That would have been a travesty.”
Clark, Dillard, Hunter, McIntire, Roebling, Roos and Wright rallied support and raised $22,500 to purchase the Davenport House. Seeing a need for a permanent organization with the mission to save historic buildings in the city, Historic Savannah Foundation was founded in 1955.
“We would not have the city we enjoy today if it hadn’t been for the vision of these seven inspiring preservation leaders,” said Sue Adler, CEO and President of Historic Savannah Foundation. “There is currently no public recognition of their contribution to Savannah in any of the city’s squares. It’s exciting to see this new monument take shape and to celebrate the remarkable impact of these seven women on Savannah.”
Surrounded by beautiful landscaping and a view of the Davenport House, the new granite monument in Columbia Square will feature two bronze plaques and portraits of each of the seven women in bas relief. Following the listing of the preservationists’ names, the plaque will provide a brief description of their accomplishments:
“These seven ladies are recognized and honored in grateful recognition and lasting appreciation of their heroic effort in 1955 to save the Davenport House from demolition and to inspire the preservation of historic structures in the city of Savannah. Their success in raising the necessary funds to purchase the house provided the catalyst to found Historic Savannah Foundation with a group of like-minded Savannah residents. This proved to be the turning point to limit destruction of the remaining historic structures in the city and to establish basic guidelines for future preservation efforts.”
Representatives of the descendants of the seven founders—with support from the City of Savannah’s Park and Tree Commission, current Historic Savannah Foundation staff and representatives from DePue Monument Company—worked on the planning and development of the monument and petition that was ultimately approved by the Savannah-Chatham County Historic Site and Monument Commission.
Upon final approval by the City Council, plans will continue for the installation and unveiling of the monument in Columbia Square. Details about a public unveiling in Summer 2025 will be announced at a later date.
