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Oglethorpe House, SCAD (Downtowner Motor Inn)

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1964; 1990, 1996, 2002 renovations. 201 W. Oglethorpe Ave.

Although located just east of Elbert Ward, the Downtowner Motor Inn preceded the large urban renewal projects to its west in bringing an automobile-oriented modernity to Savannah’s historic district. Founded in Memphis in 1958, the Downtowner Corporation was a small national chain that sought to bridge the gap between suburban and urban motels by creating mid-rise, hovering, concrete-frame blocks surrounded by parking lots. Apart from a pair of internal elevators, the external staircases and balcony corridors, which are enlivened with traditional ornate ironwork, dramatize a sense of movement. When it opened the building was described as having “204 ultramodern rooms or suites designed to give the utmost comfort and luxury.” It was converted into a SCAD dormitory in 1990.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Robin B. Williams with David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler
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What's Nearby

Jepson Center for the Arts
Orleans Square
Trinity United Methodist Church (Trinity Methodist Church)
Savannah Civic Center
Harper Fowlkes House (Aaron Champion House)

Citation

Robin B. Williams with David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler, "Oglethorpe House, SCAD (Downtowner Motor Inn)", [Savannah, Georgia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/GA-02-5.15.

Print Source

Buildings of Savannah, Robin B. Williams. With David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, Daves Rossell, and Karl Schuler. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2016, 100-101.

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