Savannah waterfront vision plan details concrete measures for improvement
The emergence of the Plant Riverside District on the Savannah waterfront's west end transformed an industrial relic into a fixture of the city's retail and entertainment profile. Far on the other end beyond East Broad Street, revitalization is running at full speed, fueled Eastern Wharf.
That revitalization on the waterfront's anchor ends has only highlighted the need for improvement and reinvestment along the riverfront's core, which has received various plans for improvements dating back to at least 2009.
Such is the subject of the Savannah Waterfront Community Improvement District's vision plan for waterfront improvements. Done in collaboration with SWCID board members and Savannah-based design and architectural firm Sottile & Sottile, the vision plan maps nearly 50 potential improvements broken down on the east, central and west waterfront areas.
Christian Sottile, the design firm's principal who is also a consultant on other city projects such as Civic Center redevelopment, discussed the plan with the Savannah Morning News. Here is a deep dive into some of its key points:
Sottile said one of the themes from the visioning sessions was connectivity, exploring how people navigate the waterfront area by using the riverwalk, River Street, Factor's Walk or even Bay Street. But there are also north-south connections at each of the streets on downtown Savannah's historic grid (Bull Street, Abercorn Street, Whitaker Street).
"We really diagnosed each of those connections to see what's working very well and what's not working very well, because that's a big part of making the riverfront accessible to everyone and enjoyed by everyone, that it's safe and accessible for residents of the city, for visitors as well," Sottile said.
As a starter, the plan posits that points of access to River Street should be recognizable and easy to find. The same could be true in the inverse, where access points to streets on the grid are identifiable from River Street.
Those key connections are one area where the waterfront area could be improved through more identifiable wayfinding. Use of signage can also contribute to the iconography of a place, such as New York City's subway signs.
"When we come up and down from the river, maybe there is a Savannah way of creating a signature ... those kinds of ideas of doing wayfinding, not in a temporary way, but in a very thoughtful and durable way," Sottile said.
Other options for improved connectivity include linking the riverwalk at sections where it is currently separated. At one section on the east end, the riverwalk is separated by a sliver of water. The plan proposes a bridge joining the paths. At a different point, the riverwalk is broken by a surface parking lot, and the plan outlines potentially reconfiguring that lot to connect the path.
When it comes to reimagining how certain spaces are explored for different uses, a few surface parking lots along the waterfront come into focus.
Sottile's plan proposes two potential new uses for those lots: multi-use plazas and parks.
Gathering space for pedestrians or potential outdoor dining options in current parking lots could reduce auto traffic and create more activated spaces, the plan states.
The need for parking lots on the waterfront is less than when those lots were created, given new parking decks exist at each end of the river, Sottile said.
"(The plan) calls into question: are some of these spaces underperforming today, and could they perform at a higher level and provide more benefit to the city and to the to the life of River Street?"
Another opportunity for transforming a portion of the waterfront is at Factor's Walk. The plan offers two recommendations: make the entrance to Factor's Walk more of a gateway and create an art gallery walk along its walls.
The start of Factor's Walk is currently dimly lit, with bare brick walls and scattered graffiti.
Sottile noted that River Street is in many ways the most historic part of Savannah's National Historic Landmark District, and the street is lined with historic buildings and multiple-story facades.
But when the sun goes down, the faces of those historic structures are invisible. A lack of lighting along the facades leaves the primary lumination on River Street coming from restaurant lighting and open storefronts.
The vision plan sees the lack of lighting as an opportunity to increase the waterfront's vibrancy by uplighting its signature facades.
"There are certain buildings that just have a really good potential for that. They have good architecture, and they'll benefit from that," Sottile said.
Other lighting opportunities include the tunnel under the Hyatt Regency Savannah Waterfront hotel.
The plan also proposes fully enclosing trash bin holding areas, many of which are located along ramps connecting Bay Street to River Street.
Today, garbage bins are exposed to the public eye and often in those prominent places. The plan envisions those enclosures as having low-sloped roofs and doors to fully close the holding areas.
Evan Lasseter is the city of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) @evanalasseter.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah waterfront vision plan details concrete measures for improvement
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