The Savannah Civic Center is a multi-purpose facility located in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, in

Savannah Historic District Savannah Historic District may refer to: *Savannah Historic District (Savannah, Georgia), a National Historic Landmark district in Georgia * Central of Georgia Railroad: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities, Savannah, Georgia, a historic district ...

. Built-in 1974, the facility consists of an arena, theatre, ballroom, and exhibit halls. Throughout the years, the center hosts various concerts, conventions, exhibits, high school and college graduations, trade shows, theatre, ballet, and comedy shows. The venue offers event planning, a national A/V company, and production management. The center has held concerts by many famous artists from around the world. Lewis civic center maddox

Each year, the civic center hosts nearly 900 events including the Savannah Tire Hockey Classic, which awards the "Thrasher Cup" and numerous meetings are held in the building's meeting wings. It was the home to the Savannah Bees

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team, the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

's Savannah Spirits

team, and the Savannah Rug Ratz soccer team of the EISL. The arena between the years of 1986-87 was the host of the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

's men's basketball tournament.

New arena

In 2017, the City Council voted to build a new area, west of downtown. The aging MLK Jr Arena proved to be too small to attract bigger acts and the repairs needed to bring the facility up to code were too costly. Initial plans saw the removal of the arena solely. In June 2019, the council voted to demolish the entire civic center to create more green space in accordance with "The Oglethorpe Plan." Destruction of the center and renovation of the lot will take at least four years, based on the timeline recommended by the Urban Land Atlanta Institute. A campaign to "Save the Mercer" theater inside the Civic Center has been initiated by a longtime Savannah resident, Paul Mazo. Mazo told a local TV station that city officials indicated a preservation campaign will "open the door to some eededcommunity discussion." The new arena, originally known as Savannah Arena and subsequently renamed Enmarket Arena after securing a

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

agreement in July 2021, plans to open in the first half of 2022. The estimated cost of the project is $165 million. Perkins + Will have been named the firm in charge of designing the arena, while AECOM Hunt is in charge of construction. City Council has stated there are no plans to demolish the Civic Center until three to five years after the new arena is built.

Facilities

Noted performers

Several noted musicians have performed at the venue, including: *

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and the

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* White Zombie *

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References

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Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

Basketball venues in Georgia (U.S. state) College basketball venues in the United States Concert halls in the United States Indoor soccer venues in the United States Theatres in Georgia (U.S. state) Arena football venues Continental Basketball Association venues Indoor arenas in Georgia (U.S. state) Music venues in Georgia (U.S. state) Music venues completed in 1974 Sports venues completed in 1974 Theatres completed in 1974