Honoring the Past, Building the Future: MLK Civic Center Transformation Begins With Arena Removal

Submitted by the City of Savannah

The city of Savannah marked the beginning of the removal of the former Savannah Civic Center’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Arena on Thursday with a pre-demolition ceremony downtown, honoring the site’s past while looking ahead to its redevelopment.

The event, “Honoring the Legacy, Building the Future,” served as the ceremonial, communitywide kickoff for the $10.9 million removal of the former arena.

Mayor Van R. Johnson II and City Council, City Manager Jay Melder, stakeholders, dignitaries, community members and honored guests gathered in the venue’s parking lot on West Oglethorpe Avenue to hear remarks, learn about the history of the Civic Center and observe a ceremonial presentation.

Mayor Johnson and Melder retrieved a brick from the arena wall and presented it to the city of Savannah’s Office of Municipal Archives & History. It will be preserved for a future exhibit on the Civic Center’s history after completion of the construction project.

For more than five decades, the 7-acre site has hosted concerts, conventions, reunions, workshops and emergency housing, serving as a place of refuge and a center for music, arts, culture and civic engagement.

“We love what we had, but we move toward greater, and we look forward to greater, and we move toward different, and we move toward progress, and move toward equity, and we do it together as a city,” Johnson said. “We have four acres that will come available and aspirational, creating 200-300 housing units, 40-60 row homes, 45,000 square feet of local retail space, and some public space for us to be able to use again.”

“I think we can appreciate that progress is part of the work we do here,” Melder said. “We can look back to some of Dr. King’s words, also, to highlight this celebration where he said, ‘Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.’ He also told us in that same speech that ‘we’ve got to use time creatively,’ and I think it’s apropos to think about this building and the use of time creatively. It’s our responsibility to make sure inevitably is not what happens to the future of this site.”

Thursday’s hourlong observance highlighted memories, milestones and majestic moments, including an opportunity for attendees to retrieve a brick as a personal keepsake along with a certificate of authenticity. The original structure, built in 1972, had never undergone extensive redevelopment or construction before this project.

“From slam dunks to hockey pucks, rodeos to wrestling, Black Heritage to Asian festivals, health fairs to job fairs, the arena has hosted it all,” said Luciana Spracher, municipal archives and history officer. “Those cherished memories will never be demolished. Rather, today while we remove a brick from the arena’s wall, we place another brick in Savannah’s history, building our community stronger and taller for the next generation.”

Melder also quoted longtime retired city employee Joe Shearouse Sr., who managed the facility for many decades.

“She [Civic Center] gave us decades of concerts, graduations, and moments that stitched our community together. Age caught up with her. The bones were tired, the systems outdated, and she told us in her own way, it was time — do not resuscitate — let this land move on to its next stage of life. We honor what she gave us by moving forward together — not clinging to the bricks and beams that can’t serve the next generation.”

Completion of the Civic Center deconstruction and removal is slated for spring 2027.

Historical Context of Civic Center Site

The land was originally home to the Creek Nation before colonization by the English in the 1730s.
Originally designated as part of the Town Common, the site was laid out as Elbert and Jackson wards in the early 1800s. On the Trust Lots facing Orleans Square, the Bulloch House, designed by renowned British architect William Jay, was built in 1819. Scholarship on the Bulloch House has focused on its architectural grandeur and the presumed use of enslaved labor both inside and outside the home.
A century later, the house was demolished to make way for the Municipal Auditorium. Fronting Orleans Square, the auditorium hosted plays, concerts, sporting events, recitals and a wide variety of community events. Local and national leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., spoke to Savannahians from the auditorium’s stage.
Savannah’s needs eventually outgrew the auditorium, which was demolished in 1971. The newly constructed Savannah Civic Center was completed in early 1972, featuring a modern arena, theater and ballroom. During the Civic Center’s grand opening week in February 1972, the arena hosted a variety of events, including a Boy Scouts potluck supper, a Holiday on Ice spectacular, a Georgia Day celebration featuring a children’s costume parade, dance performances by the Academy of Black Culture and an ice hockey game featuring the Florida Allstars against the St. Petersburg Suns.
In July 1984, at the request of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Savannah City Council named the arena in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., recognizing his national contributions and local significance and connecting the site to where he had addressed Savannahians at the Municipal Auditorium 20 years earlier.
Following the opening of Savannah’s EnMarket Arena, City Council approved the removal of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Arena while retaining King’s name and legacy at the Civic Center site. On Dec. 11, 2025, the mayor and City Council approved a resolution renaming the entire Civic Center in King’s honor.

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