By Eric Curl
Dec. 3, 2024 – With little fanfare, the last vestiges of a once major shipping company established in the 1800s are being removed to make way for the industry’s future.
Georgia Ports Authority is in the process of demolishing the 110-year-old Ocean Steamship Terminal building as part of the expansion of Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal, a 200-acre facility just downriver from GPA’s main container port.
The Ocean Steamship Company was launched by the Central of Georgia in 1872, with the purchase six steamships, and operated until 1958, when the GPA purchased its terminal and docks for $2.8 million following decades of hard times spurred by the boll weevil infestation of the 1920s, the Great Depression and World War II, according to the GPA.
Constructed in 1914 to accommodate the company’s growth, the “headhouse” building being demolished was part of a U-shaped terminal that was flanked by now-demolished freight sheds. The 2-story brick covered structure included a passenger terminal, ticket office, baggage rooms, segregated waiting areas and skylight over the stairwell.
“Since it was designed to express the importance of the company, it had a lot of architectural detail,” according to a video presentation the GPA had prepared as a mitigation requirement regarding the building’s demolition.
A concrete water tower completed in 1910 will also be demolished as part of the expansion project.
“These changes simply represent a recurring chapter of improvements at the terminal which has faithfully served the port of savannah since 1872,” the GPA video’s narrator states.
Re:Purpose Savannah was recently hired by the GPA to preserve some of the building’s materials, which can be found at their lumber yard at 2302 East Gwinnett St.
The renovation of Ocean Terminal will start coming online in 2027 and be completed by 2028, transforming the current three small berth facility into two big ship berths, according to GPA officials. Earlier this year, the GPA approved contracts totaling $65.6 million for container yard work the terminal including earth compacting to prepare the site to hold container stacks, removal of a former bridge pier and preliminary utility installation behind the wharf structure. Previously approved upgrades included the purchase of eight ship-to-shore cranes, refurbishing the wharf structure, and construction of an overpass for direct access to US 17. When all work is complete, Ocean Terminal’s annual capacity is expected grow from 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units to more than 1.5 million TEUs.
Update: On Wednesday, following the original publication of this article, the GPA issued a statement regarding the Ocean Steamship building’s demolition. The statement reads:
“The Ocean Terminal administrative offices needed to be moved from their previous location due to the necessity of cargo operations on the site.
Prior to the removal of the Ocean Terminal administrative building in the Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority worked with Georgia’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in Atlanta, which performed a cultural resources assessment.
To preserve as many of the architectural features as possible, Georgia Ports coordinated with Re:Purpose Savannah and TIC, the general contractor for the Ocean Terminal renovation project.
Re:Purpose Savannah salvaged lighting figures, floors, doors, door frames, window frames, exterior columns, and the Ocean Terminal Steamship Co. signage. A portion of the preserved items will be re-used in the new Ocean Terminal offices, and the remainder donated to Re:Purpose Savannah for use in other projects.”
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