A First-Class Arena Takes Shape In Savannah’s Canal District

As the largest capital expenditure in the City’s history, the Enmarket Arena project represents the culmination of nearly 20 years of efforts to construct a first-class, sustainable arena that provides a flexible and usable sports and entertainment venue to the public.  Originally funded by the City’s 2014 SPLOST 6 program, in 2019, the City made good on its promise to move this project forward by selecting the design team led by Perkins & Will to provide design and construction administration services for the development of a 9,500-seat, 269,000 SF arena on the City’s west side.

The development of the new $165M arena site is considered the catalyst project in an overall effort to develop the entire surrounding canal district – a 55-acre area to the west of Savannah’s historic downtown core that presents the opportunity to reimagine the Canal District to the west of West Boundary Street, creating a vibrant new center of activity. The multiphase project aims to revive an under-appreciated canal and expand Savannah’s economic vitality.

The Canal District around the Enmarket Arena is expected to feature a 55-acre park with lakes, walking and biking paths, and athletic fields.  The Springfield Canal will also be widened to improve drainage and accommodate recreational boating. A plaza similar to the Savannah Riverwalk will line the widened canal east of the arena site at Gwinnett Street and Stiles Avenue and road improvements are being made to better accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians and vehicles, and provide improved connections to downtown.

The area of focus lies west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard between Louisville Road and Interstate 16, amid the Carver Village community to the west and Brickyard neighborhood to the north. The district is expected to be a bridge to historic neighborhoods that have been separated from downtown by vacant, underutilized industrial space. It’s estimated that it will take 15-20 years for design and construction of the entire Canal District to take place.

As a subconsultant to Perkins+Will, Hussey Gay Bell provided site/civil engineering in addition to surveying, permitting and construction phase services for the Springfield canal widening, Stiles Avenue widening and a 500-space structured parking deck attached to the arena.

[Images & Video: Courtesy of Perkins+Will.]