Local developer talks about growth on Waters Avenue
The Historic Savannah Foundation continued its 2024 lecture series this week with a talk on “Revitalizing Waters Avenue.” This installment of the “On Our Radar” series details efforts along the corridor to revitalize its community-oriented economic activity.
The HSF lecture series continues this year, most recently with lectures on the Kiah House restoration effort and one on the renaming of Taylor Square. The series will continue each month through December.
The Juneteenth Fine Arts Festival finally has a new date after being postponed due to rain over the holiday weekend. The festival is keeping much of its lineup as is, including headliner TG Live.
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Waters Avenue: Past and Future
The Waters Avenue talk was given by community developer and preservationist Briana Paxton, who recently restored a historic building at the corner of Maupas and Waters Avenue. The building now houses The Stacks Bookstore, Cast and Grey Botanical, and the Goodfortune Market grocery store.
The talk detailed the development history of Water Avenue, showing old Sanborn maps and the former businesses — belt shops, corner stores and lounges — that once occupied the lots. In the 1930s and 1940s, there were a variety of “walkable retail stores in the neighborhood,” Paxton said.
“Waters Avenue has always had neighborhood-level businesses,” Paxton said, adding that the corridor suffered from suburbanization and white flight after the war.
The conversation then went into detail about Paxton’s efforts to restore the building, which utilized five different incentives, including state and federal tax credits for the renovation. The various incentive programs ultimately saved approximately $70,000 in costs.
The renovation of the building was recognized with an HSF Preservation Award earlier this year.
Paxton said she made a conscious decision to split the building into three tenants instead of one to bring multiple businesses to the corridor. She acknowledged the community’s concerns about the gentrification of the area, saying there is a difference between “gentrification and displacement.” Paxton is working with the recently formed Waters Avenue Business Association to build outreach to the old neighbors, she said.
“We’re trying to make sure that these older residents are welcomed into the community and know that we’re not trying to just change them and then abandon them,” Paxton said. “But I think the level of deterioration that we’ve allowed is unacceptable, and we need to make sure that people know that there is a higher standard and a higher quality of life on Waters Avenue.”
Paxton ended his conversation by mentioning about a dozen other businesses along the corridor, including Jerome Meadows’ art studio and Kid Fit 360 Daycare, owned by Marcus Brown and his wife.
The program of the Grand Festival for Juneteenth Fine Arts returns
The Juneteenth Fine Arts Grand Festival in Savannah was scheduled for June 22, but was postponed indefinitely due to heavy rains that day.
The festival will now begin again on Saturday, August 24th at 3:00 p.m. in Forsyth Park.
Before the Grand Festival was postponed, the Fine Arts Festival had a week-long program. Lead-up events through June 22 included a youth festival, fireworks and a 5K run for fathers. The week-long program was twice the size of the Fine Arts Festival.
The postponed Grand Festival will feature headliners TG Live, the Performing Arts Collective of Savannah, artist Port SavANT’, and performances by Candice Glover and the Bee Sharps of SCAD.
