Savannah revives square destroyed in 1950s

Associated Press - March 11, 2010 4:14 AM ET

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Savannah is celebrating the resurrection of 1 of its famous squares, a site that helped spark the city's preservation movement after its demolition in the 1950s.

Ellis Square was 1 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 razed in 2005 and replaced with a new underground garage. Work on the square itself began in February last year.