SAVANNAH — Forsyth Park, famous for its elegant fountain, historical monuments and towering live oaks draped in Spanish moss, has been a magnet for residents and tourists alike for nearly 200 years.
Now there is a growing debate about its future.
A nonprofit park conservancy plans to raise private funds for improvements to the city-owned park and has asked for the Savannah City Council’s blessing. A proposed Memorandum of Understanding includes a provision that a controversial master plan developed by the conservancy be used as a guide for future upgrades.
The MOU, unveiled in August, generated backlash from neighborhood groups. Their concerns included transparency issues and the city losing decision-making control of the taxpayer-owned space. They also protested suggested changes to the 30-acre park cited in the 300-page master plan.
Leaders of the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Victorian Neighborhood Association have met with the Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy and city officials over the last two months. A public meeting to outline the revisions is planned for the coming weeks, with a City Council vote on the MOU likely to be held in late November or December.
City administrator Joe Shearouse said the concerns have been addressed and reiterated the city will continue as the sole decision-maker for the park. The city’s press secretary, Joshua Peacock, said all Savannah citizens will have input on future changes, not just members of the Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy.
“This is not a horrible cabal. They want to create a beautiful park,” and help raise the necessary funds, said Peacock, referring to the conservancy.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Forsyth Park, named after former Georgia Governor and U.S. Secretary of State John Forsyth, dates back to the 1840s. One of its early uses was a parade ground for Confederate troops, and there is a monument to Confederate soldiers and marble busts of two Confederate leaders, in addition to the Spanish-American War.
The park today hosts the Savannah Jazz Festival and philharmonic concerts, a weekly farmers market and a steady stream of wedding photographers, sports games, artists, strollers and picnics.
“When you think about the historic tourism product that is Savannah, really Forsyth Park is our showpiece,’’ said Erica Backus, spokesperson of the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce.
Movement after speed bumps, stop signs
Interest in a partnership between the city and a park conservancy group goes back seven years to a time when city budget shortfalls led to reduced maintenance at Forsyth — and concerns from residents about the upkeep.
At the time, the city agreed to consider a partnership with the Trustees’ Garden Club, a nonprofit, to create the Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy Inc., which would raise funds to maintain the park.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trustees hired a public relations firm and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects to survey park visitors and create a master plan. Organizers held virtual town hall meetings in 2021 and 2022. Some 4,500 people completed surveys, primarily online.
Most of the people who answered the survey, though, did not live in the city or nearby neighborhoods, according to public documents.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Neighborhood groups challenged the master plan and raised questions about the Trustees’ Garden Club and the Friends of Forsyth. The outcry was so loud that the public push for a conservancy partnership was suspended in summer 2022.
The Friends of Forsyth continued its work in the background, developing a stewardship plan for the park. According to an Aug. 30, 2023 report on The Garden Club of America’s website, the group was pursuing a National Historic Landmark designation for Forsyth Park ahead of establishing itself as a “conservancy to preserve and protect the historic integrity of the park and raise funds to execute the master plan.”
The National Park Service revamped the nomination process for National History Landmark status last year and the park has yet to gain the designation. The Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy registered as a nonprofit with the Internal Revenue Service in February.
The MOU was drafted this summer and appeared on a Savannah City Council agenda in August. Among the concerns raised by neighborhood association leaders: Information about the conservancy’s donors and employees would be kept confidential, and only three of the 18 conservancy’s votes would belong to outsiders, according to the document.
Dolly Chisholm, the conservancy’s spokesperson, declined to be interviewed for this article, saying it “would not be responsible” to discuss plans yet.
Ryan Madson, former president of the Victorian Neighborhood Association, is worried about a potential lack of diversity in the Friends of Forsyth Park Conservancy. The Trustees’ Garden Club, from which the conservancy springs, historically has been known for its “exclusivity” and viewed as “made up of white women,” according to Madson and others.
“I don’t know how much that’s changed over the years, but there’s a perception of the Trustees’ Garden Club being very privileged,” he said.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Neighborhood leaders pushed for revisions to the MOU focused on stormwater improvements and enhanced tree canopies and lighting, while also insisting the park’s design not be altered in any significant way.
Among the issues critics cite with the master plan is the proposed replacement of picnic places under the live oak trees with pathways and moving the park playground closer to the basketball courts, where children would be exposed to “trash talk” on the courts, according to David McDonald, president of Downtown Neighborhood Association.
Neighborhood group leaders anticipate the MOU being adopted now that revisions have been made. All are eager to see what the partnership — and an influx of funds for improvement — will mean for the park.
“It’s been a very impassioned and controversial process because everyone cares about the park,” said Madson, a professional urban planner and Forsyth neighbor. “These competing visions will spur discussion, which will be a good thing.”
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