Return to Savannah, Part V: City Hall

It might not seem possible to devote an entire post to a city hall, but my recent visit to Savannah gave me a reason to consider it . While I've photographed the building's exterior on almost all of my previous visits, I'd never been inside the picturesque structure until the recent trip. 

And even after getting inside, I didn't get any father than the lower-level rotunda. Security wouldn't allow it. But that rotunda was interesting enough for me to take some pictures. 

The building was designed by architect Hyman Witcover and was constructed from 1904-05 before opening officially the following year.  

So, what you see in this post is several new exterior shots and the pictures from the interior I managed to grab in my short time inside. The photo leading off the post is the first time I tried to get the building's front facade in its entirety. It's usually impossible to get because of the angle and because of the constant flow of traffic along busy Bay Street. But I managed to get this one, as well as the first two below. The two below were taken with my iPhone 11, the first from ground level, the second later in the afternoon from the seventh floor of a building southeast of the hall.

Above: Looking upward from the entry-level floor toward the multiple circular rails on the building's upper levels. 

The rotunda sculpture centerpiece (above) with a close-up of the sculpture below. 

A curious doorway decoration (above) and a close-up of what appears to be the artifact (below). 

 

Above: Yet another curious doorway blockade. Apparently this is Savannah's way of telling visitors the through-way is not a through-way after all. 

End of series

PREVIOUSLY IN THE SERIES: 

Part I: Colonial Park Cemetery

Part II: A cruise on the Georgia Queen

Part III: More of the Historic District

Part IV: Small art galleries and shops