SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – The Forsyth Park Master Plan is getting pushback from those who live in the area. They say the historic site doesn’t need any upgrades and the park should be preserved.
“I love that they want to keep it healthy, I want to also, but I don’t want to change the design,” Scott Center said who is opposed to changing the park.
Center lives in the Forsyth Park area and started a petition to “leave the park alone.”
“There’s no other facility in Savannah where you have every single factor in the city all together, playing together, enjoying nature together, enjoying the city together, and don’t monkey with that,” Center said.
He wants to make sure neighbors voices are heard who don’t want to see anything change about the historic park in the heart of Savannah.
“I’m trying to get people if they believe it’s good the way it is then I want those voices heard. Because of the way the surveys are structured you can’t really respond unless you say you like A, B, or both,” Center said.
Co-Chair of the Trustees’ Garden Club Meb Ryan admits that the survey has a flawed question.
“And so what we’ve decided to do is we’re not going to compute the answer to that question in the data analysis. It’s going to be considered an optional question,” Ryan said.
She said thousands of Savannahians have completed the survey so far and Friends of Forsyth hears everyone’s concerns. Two designs have been created to represent the vision of what the park could look like.
“You know if Oglethorpe didn’t have a plan, where would Savannah be? Because the park has changed so much over the decades,” she said.
Friends of Forsyth say historic preservation is the project’s main goal. Center believes there are other things the city should be using tax payer’s money for. His ideas include installing more bike lanes throughout the city or finishing the Tide To Town Trail System.
“If it’s not broke don’t fix it,” Center said.
The final master plan is expected to go before Savannah City Council for adoption in the fall. The master plan survey can be completed until April 30.
