By Eric Curl
Oct. 12, 2022 – The Savannah Ghost Pirates will be practicing at the Martin Luther King Jr. Arena, while also teaching the youngsters how to play by establishing a recreational youth hockey league. The public will also get a chance to show off their own skating skills, under the recently approved agreement with the city.
The monthly lease agreement gives the minor league hockey team the right to use the arena until May 31, 2023 at a rate of $6,000 a month, plus 65% of the electric bill.
Considering its age, the city made sure to make it clear that the team would accept the premises as is and make any necessary repairs at its sole expense.
The agreement comes after about eight months since events came to an end at the MLK arena in mid-January with a two-day college hockey tournament. The new EnMarket Arena, west of downtown, is where all the big acts go now, including the Ghost Pirates home games.
Under an amended management agreement approved by the Savannah City Council in late January, OVG Facilities is no longer booking acts at MLK. The management company is solely charged with marketing and booking performances at Enmarket and the Johnny Mercer Theater on the Civic Center’s north end.
The team is planning to build its own practice rink off Fort Argyle Road in the outer city limits of West Chatham County, but the project is not expected to be completed until the team’s third season. While the team will have some practices at Enmarket, the new arena will not always be available due to bookings there.
A two-year agreement to use MLK is preferred by the team, but the city is only willing to commit to the first season at this time since the future of the building is still being determined, according to Bret Bell, the city’s chief operating officer.
“There’s a lot of questions we’re trying to answer about the Civic Center in general,” Bell said.
The city is developing plans for the Civic Center site that include the demolition of the MLK arena and preservation of the Johnny Mercer Theatre. A new city office building may also be built on the Civic Center’s northern end under the proposal presented to the Savannah City Council in April.
Meanwhile, the Ghost Pirates play their first game of the season on Oct. 22, when they will compete in South Carolina against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Their home opener at the Enmarket Arena will be on Nov. 5, when they will again face the Swamp Rabbits.
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