Postcard circa 1960s: Kummerlowe
 
Savannah-Downtown -- 224 W Boundary St.

 

The classic circa 1964 Savannah-Downtown Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge came to be the last best Orange Roofed example of mid-20th century roadside hospitality in the state of Georgia. It featured exemplary moderne design and architecture! It was unfortunately sold in 2014 to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which sadly will demolish the largely intact Gate Lodge and its adjacent Motor Lodge guest wings.

Reported in a Savannah Now Savannah Morning News article in october of 2018, SCAD argued in its redevelopment scheme that the more than 50 year old Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge is insignificant while the nearby Thunderbird Motel somehow is (?). While I'm happy for the Thunderbird (which like the HoJo's was not local but part of a chain) to survive and perhaps thrive with its cool sign, its design is not special and not indicative of any mid-20th century design innovation, nor does it have special historical significance for either the hospitality industry in general or for Savannah, Georgia in particular.

The reality of the situation is that SCAD wants to raze the site to build something else that it deems will have more economic usefulness. It is ridiculous to say that a mostly intact Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge does not have historical significance because it was part of a chain and others were built of the same style in the state of Georgia--find another example as intact as Savannah-Downtown, and study the impact that Motor Lodges of its type had upon the hospitality industry and then argue to minimize its significance!

 
 
 
Postcard postmarked 1989: Kummerlowe
 
 
Photographs March 2003: Kummerlowe
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photographs September 2002: Phil Edwards
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photograph Marchn 2003: Phil Edwards
 
 
Photograph 2003: Bob Venditti
 
 
Photographs March 2003: Kummerlowe
 
 
 
 
Photograph September 2002: Phil Edwards
 
 
Photographs March 2003: Kummerlowe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photograph September 2002: Phil Edwards
 
 
Photographs 2003: Bob Venditti
 
 
Photo March 2003: Kummerlowe
 
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