By Stephanie Saunders
The city of Savannah’s Metropolitan Planning Commission has approved the site plans for Gwinnett Village, a new apartment-style dormitory complex for the Savannah College of Art and Design. Martin Smith, SCAD’s Executive Director of Design and New Construction, explained site plans as “The first step in the design process. It lays out the grid of streets, shows how the buildings are arranged on the property, begins to show parking and other functions and describes the changes in elevation found across the property.”
The plans are to build at 1025 W. Gwinnett St., bordered by the Springfield Canal and I-16. Gwinnett Village will have five four-story buildings with the first floor consisting of parking (enough for each room). When complete, it will contain 96 dorm units, which is not allowed under current zoning law and must be additionally approved by the City Council. Also on site will be a 17,000-square-foot athletic center similar to Club SCAD and the gym at Turner House; however, this one will also have a café attached. Smith also said that there will be a recycling center and green spaces incorporated into the area.
The entire complex will take up four acres out of the 22-acre plot zoned for a residential, commercial and office development generally called the West Gwinnett Development. Kennedy Ragsdale, an engineering company hired by the developers, will be working on the entire site. They could not be reached for comment.
Smith, however, said, “SCAD is working with the same civil engineer and urban planner as the developers of the West Gwinnett Development, which will be an urban mixed-use district that will have the same planning language as downtown. Hence, the feeling will be urban rather than suburban.” Cindy Coddington, with Traffic Engineering, said that they are also working to re-create and modify roadways in the area into the downtown grid system and have long-term plans to widen Gwinnett Street into four lanes. Coddington said that their department is involved in the construction of the dorm complex, but have not yet approved the street layout. “We are waiting for the developers to re-submit design modifications.” The city of Savannah is also looking to build in that area, possibly constructing an arena directly across the street from where the dorms are going to be placed.
Gwinnett Village, like Barnard Village, will not be owned by SCAD but rather by the developing company who leases them to SCAD. Stacey Fong, a second-year fibers student, commented on how the most recent complex, Barnard Village, differed from the older SCAD-owned dorms. “No one hangs outside like we used to when I lived at Dyson. Maybe it’s because the area is a little sketchy.” The SCAD Head of Security, Jeff Smith, isn’t sure how the Gwinnett Village complex will differ in safety and security measures. “I don’t have an opinion yet. I haven’t had a chance to sit down with the architect, but it probably is not going to be too bad.” A planner from the Metropolitan Planning Commission said that the earliest the city council can approve the zoning districts would be May 8 of this year. Gwinnett Village should be completed in the fall of 2009.
