The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is requesting approval to re-install the updated River Street Maritime History Panels along the Savannah waterfront on River Street (26-001233-HM). The fifteen signs were originally installed in 2008 as part of a mitigation project managed by GDOT, but due to age and condition they were removed in 2025. The panels' content has undergone an extensive review process involving representatives of the City's Park & Tree department and Office of Municipal Archives & History, as well as the US Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Highway Administration, MPC Historic Preservation department, Georgia Port Authority, Savannah Riverfront Association, the Shawnee Tribe, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation. The resulting updated panel design includes minor interpretive text and visual image updates based on new historical research since 2008, as well as a graphic design update.

Additionally, following re-installation, GDOT is requesting to transfer ownership of the panels to the City of Savannah to facilitate future maintenance and agrees to provide the maintenance escrow identified by Park & Tree for this purpose of $7,700 as well as all associated design files.

The Historic Site and Monument Commission recommends approval of the updates and replacements to the Riverfront Maritime Interpretive Markers as requested because the work meets the standards in the Master Plan and Guidelines for Markers, Monuments, and Public Art. 

Recommend approval of transfer of ownership.