This story is one of two about how the City of Savannah and its consultant team are exploring a reimagination of the Johnny Mercer Theatre and other community spaces within the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center. This story details preliminary plans about how the space will be renovated. The first story about why the renovations are needed can be found here.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center’s Oglethorpe Avenue frontage is marked by its towering arches, open stairway and broad green space accented by parallel fountains. But as one travels towards the building and up the stairs, they are met by a façade of Savannah grey brick that ends the stairway to nowhere.
A preliminary vision for the building’s revitalization imagines a frontage home to a black box theater, offices and multi-purpose community space activating the street front. Instead of stairs to a closed brick wall, plans call for a true bookend to the civic center, one marked by multiple entrances and “civic architecture” found at multiple monumental buildings across Savannah…