Download Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal - Historic Preservation Division

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED NATIONAL REGISTER/GEORGIA REGISTER NOMINATION
1.
Name: Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal
2. Location: 109 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia
3a. Description: The Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal is located on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Savannah. The
former terminal is a one-story Streamline Moderne-style brick building with a flat roof and tall parapet wall. A small rear (west)
three-level section held the original restrooms and lounge. The terminal is situated within a commercial row of buildings in
downtown Savannah just outside the Savannah Landmark Historic District. The curvilinear east façade of the building features a
long horizontal window with stainless-steel framing that terminates at one end in the recessed main entrance and at the other end
in a half-circle – a geometric motif that is continued on the north side of the building with a large, steel-framed circular window.
A curvilinear, stainless-steel, flat-roof canopy extends along the length of the façade, transitioning into a curve at the south end
above the entrance and turning upward into a vertical marquee bearing the letters G-R-E-Y. Replacement ivory and blue
structural glass panels cover the façade. A concrete passenger concourse covered by a flat-roof canopy, supported by round
metal poles, extends along the north and west sides of the building, which abut a paved area for original bus access. Three sets
of paired steel doors provide access from the main terminal waiting room to the primary concourse. A single steel door opens
from the concourse on the west side of the building into what was the segregated waiting room at the rear of the building. The
interior of the building retains its floor plan and most of its terrazzo floors, concrete floors, Masonite walls, and plaster walls.
The building has been rehabilitated and is now used as a restaurant.
3b. Period of Significance: 1938-1965
3c. Acreage: less than one acre
3d. Boundary Explanation: The boundary includes the entire legal parcel associated with the property.
4a. National Register Criteria: A and C
4b. National Register Areas of Significance: Architecture and Transportation
4c. Statement of Significance: The Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal is significant in the area of architecture as a rare local
example of the Streamline Moderne style of architecture. The curvilinear façade of the building, which articulates the space of
the original restaurant and lunch counter, features a long horizontal window with stainless-steel framing that terminates at one
end in the recessed main entrance and at the other end in a half-circle. Besides the much larger W.S. Arrasmith-designed station
in Atlanta, built c.1940 and demolished in 2007, the Savannah terminal is the only Greyhound station in Georgia to feature the
company’s characteristic ivory-and-blue color scheme on the exterior. The building is an exceptional design by nationally
regarded Greyhound Lines architect George D. Brown and retains a high degree of integrity.
The Atlantic Greyhound Bus Terminal is significant in the area of transportation for its role as the hub of inter-city bus traffic
for the Savannah community from 1938 until 1965. When the Atlantic Greyhound terminal first opened in 1938, the station
handled over 75 arrivals and departures a day, which included different trips of the associated Atlantic and Southeastern
Greyhound Lines, Savannah Beach Bus Lines, and competitor Southeastern Stages, to any destination in the country. This
terminal served Savannah until 1965 when the Greyhound Corporation – following the full acquisition of Atlantic Greyhound in
1957 and its subsequent merger with Southeastern Greyhound in 1960 to form the new Southern Division of the Greyhound
Corporation – decided to build a new terminal on Oglethorpe Avenue.
4d. Suggested Level of Significance: The building is proposed at the local level of significance as an excellent example of a
Streamline Moderne-style building constructed for the Greyhound Corporation in Savannah.
4e. National Register Status: The property received final certification from the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia
Department of Natural Resources for the state property tax abatement and state income tax credit programs on January 3, 2016.
5. Sponsor: The property owners sponsored the nomination. The nomination materials were prepared by Quatrefoil
Consulting.
Summary prepared June 2016/LS