Congregation B’nai B’rith Synagogue - Savannah Historic District - Savannah, GA
N 32° 04.766 W 081° 05.777
17S E 490913 N 3549244
The Congregation B’nai B’rith Synagogue was built in 1909 by Hyman Witcover. It was later used by the Saint Andrew's Independent Episcopal Church from 1970 until 2002. It was then acquired as the Savannah College of Art and Design Student Center.
Waymark Code: WM4J2G
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 08/29/2008
Views: 47
From the Savannah College of Art and Design web site:
"The 28,834-square-foot Congregation B’nai B’rith Synagogue was built in 1909 by Hyman Witcover as a four-story, exotic revival building with keyhole arches defining the windows, arabesque patterns in the window glass, tracery on the entrance elevation, intricate carved and corbelled detail along the top of the building, and Moorish-style domes on the west façade corners.
The Orthodox congregation had separated from the Congregation Mickve Israel in the 19th century and established its own place of worship. When Witcover designed the synagogue, a prominent example of Moorish revival used for synagogue architecture was the 1870 Central Synagogue in New York City.
The structure later housed Saint Andrew’s Independent Episcopal Church, from 1970 to 2002. The light-filled interior reflects these religious usages. Two stories of balconies surround the central space, supported by polygonal wooden pillars with carved wood Byzantine capitals. Acquired by the college in 2003 after the church had vacated the premises, the unique building was renovated and restored."
This building is listed as a contributing building 10.04 in the Book, "Historic Savannah" which is a survey of all of Savannah's Historic Districts.