09-05-2025
City council follow-up on Enmarket Arena parking lot
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — After a heated city council meeting yesterday over the new Enmarket arena parking lot that, if completed, will be the most expensive parking lot in Georgia's history.
29 million dollars. That's how much money the City of Savannah would spend on the flat surface Enmarket Arena parking lot if the new 14-million-dollar proposal gets approved at the workshop set to take place in two weeks.
'Council members have a right to be outraged right now, and the public has a right to be outraged because we burned through $15 million so far,' Nick Palumbo District 4 Alderman said. 'The same contractor has billed us for an additional $1.9 million, which we have not paid. And the city is now recommending that we continue with the same contractor for another $14 million. I think, honestly, we need to ask whether or not they're going to be able to finish the job. What has changed on the site to render this recommendation?'
According to the cities contract, they are required to remediate the site due to the soil in the area being contaminated. Palumbo said there are a lot of other less expensive ways to fulfill their obligations.
'The alternatives include we don't have a sidewalk that runs east to west from the arena to the site,' Palumbo said. 'We don't have a bike lane that runs east to west, from the arena to the site, you know, where all of the hotels and parking are downtown. We don't have a safe mobility connection that runs east to west that's there.'
Palumbo said other council members agree with him that the parking lot is not needed and would add no value to the city or the patrons who call it home.
'It is in the 100-year flood plain adjacent to the Springfield Canal, surface parking produces the heat island effect, making our environment worse. And it really doesn't add any value to the community whatsoever, outside of just more convenient parking for the arena and for those arena patrons, perhaps,' Palumbo said.
The workshop is set for May 22, and they will be taking a deep dive into the budget and other options available instead. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
