Name: Savannah council moves forward with Canal District improvement plans
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Savannah council moves forward with Canal District improvement plans

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Nick Robertsonnrobertson@savannahnow.comView CommentsAdvancing a long-term initiative to improve the Canal District, Savannah’s City Council reviewed an updated master plan for the project before approving additional funding toward it on Thursday, April 23.Holding their regular biweekly meeting via video conference as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Savannah’s City Council received a presentation on the — which is aligned with the planned Savannah Arena development in the area alongside Stiles Avenue — during a preliminary workshop Thursday afternoon.The master plan was complemented with an , which include the establishment of new parks, promenades, and flood-mitigation developments.“We inherited the ideas. The future of the Canal District at this moment is in your hands,” said Jeff Williams with Perkins+Will, the design firm working on this project along with the Symbioscity urban-planning agency.According to Williams, the updated master plan aims to develop infrastructure to bridge the gap between downtown Savannah and the city’s historically impoverished western neighborhoods.“We need new streets that connect people,” Williams said, noting that the master plan includes steps to make sure that “no one in the Canal District is displaced.”Other goals of the master plan include providing business opportunities for area residents, and preserving historic Canal District landmarks like the Water Works Building.Bridget Lidy, Savannah’s director of planning and urban design, said she aims to submit the Canal District designs to the Metropolitan Planning Commission in May, solicit public feedback by early June, and introduce the plan for a formal vote by the council at their June 25 meeting.After the presentation, Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier lauded the Canal District planners for addressing the needs of community members.“You all really heard the voice of the residents,” Lanier said, before noting that the council should ensure that local labor is employed in the project’s construction. “We do not want this money to leave town.”Alderwoman Kesha Gibson-Carter questioned the prudence of moving forward with constructing a new arena when considering Savannah’s current financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.“Much of where we go and where we are is going to depend on money,” Gibson-Carter said, before advocating the prioritization of drainage-mitigation development in Canal District planning.Acknowledging Gibson-Carter’s concerns, Mayor Van Johnson asserted that the COVID-19 crisis would not endanger the arena’s development.“COVID-19 is not going to be the end of Savannah,” Johnson said, adding that the arena development is an integral element of the Canal District improvements. “The arena is a feasible project and remains a feasible project.”Later, during their regular meeting, the council voted on a pair of purchasing items involving projects involved with the Canal District improvement plans.First the council considered authorizing a contract amendment with Perkins+Will to design the widening of Stiles Avenue between Gwinnett Street and its northern intersection with Louisville Road, at a cost of $410,630.Lanier said that Stiles should also be widened between Gwinnett and Ogeechee Road, but understood that improvements on the northern stretch of Stiles are more urgent to be in sync with anticipated port development at the Louisville intersection.Following brief discussion, the council approved the Stiles Avenue contract amendment.Soon afterwards, the council also approved a motion to procure builder’s risk insurance for the Savannah Arena project, with Alderwomen Gibson-Carter and Estella Shabazz in opposition.During the meeting’s closing remarks, Johnson commented on his , which officially nullified local emergency measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.“We’re not anti-business,” Johnson said of Savannah. “But we don’t want our businesses to become cesspools of COVID-19.”View Comments

Nick Robertsonnrobertson@savannahnow.comView CommentsAdvancing a long-term initiative to improve the Canal District, Savannah’s City Council reviewed an updated master plan for the project before approving additional funding toward it on Thursday, April 23.Holding their regular biweekly meeting via video conference as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Savannah’s City Council received a presentation on the — which is aligned with the planned Savannah Arena development in the area alongside Stiles Avenue — during a preliminary workshop Thursday afternoon.The master plan was...

Savannah council moves forward with Canal District improvement plans

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