Savannah Revives Square Destroyed in 1950s

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Savannah is celebrating the resurrection of one of its famous squares, a site that helped spark the city's preservation movement after its demolition in the 1950s.

Ellis Square was one of the original Savannah squares plotted by James Edward Oglethorpe, who founded Georgia in 1733. The square was destroyed, along with the original City Market, in 1954 to build a parking garage.

An outcry among citizens led to the creation of the Historic Savannah Foundation to prevent further loss of the city's important
structures.

City officials planned a ribbon-cutting ceremony to reopen Ellis Square on Thursday, after spending more than four years and nearly $32 million restoring it.

The parking deck was raised in 2005 and replaced with a new underground garage. Work on the square itself began in February last year.

AP