Tommy Holland grew up passing Savannah’s “little castle” in the woods off Highway 17, the primary route south to Jacksonville at the time. So when his brother told him over a Sunday lunch around 1990 the city was looking to sell the Savannah Powder Magazine, he immediately knew the place.
By the next day Holland had Historic Savannah Foundation on the horn and was pushing to prevent the sale; it was roughly 100 years after the building was constructed to safely store explosive materials. Holland’s efforts proved successful and a city council agenda item approving the sale was eventually removed, he said.
His journey came full circle some 30 years later when Savannah City Council approved a local historic property designation for the powder magazine last week. The designation marks the first property to receive the classification in what preservationists hope will be a spark plug igniting protections for other properties citywide…