Wright Square restoration underway

Feb. 23—Restoration work is officially underway in the city's Wright Square.

Workers poured the concrete foundation for a monument on Tuesday in preparation for the park's centerpiece.

"It'll be a concrete pedestal with two columns from the old Oglethorpe Hotel," said Brunswick Public Works Director Garrow Alberson. "Surrounding that will be, whatever you'd call it, a plaza, patio. It's 75x75 (foot) of brick with walkways coming off of that with landscaping coming off around."

With the foundation in place, he said the columns will be the next piece to install.

"Right now, we have a monument company drilling holes into those columns so we can set them down on a pin to stabilize them," Alberson said.

Wright Square, on George Street between Carpenter and Egmont streets, is something of a companion to Hanover Square, located four blocks away between Grant and Richmond streets.

Brunswick has 14 squares owing to the city's layout and the design by Gen. James Oglethorpe during the early days of the Georgia colony. The layout was implemented first in Savannah in 1733 and in Brunswick at the city's founding in 1771.

Brunswick's layout differs from Savannah's in that the squares are sized differently. Hanover and Wright are the largest at around four acres.

While it will be managed by the city, the project is being funded by a roughly $150,000 budget allocation from Glynn County, private donations and SPLOST 2016 funds.

With the weather warming up, Alberson said the public works department will be getting started on a few other square renovation projects as well in Hillery Square and Orange Square.

New landscaping is the focus of the Hillery Square project, Alberson said. The square's new greenery is expected to cost around $90,000, with some of the funding coming from Signature Squares of Brunswick

The full list of upgrades at Orange Park, where a splash pad will be installed, is more substantial and includes resurfacing a basketball court, parking and pavilions. It comes in at around $450,000, $185,000 of which is grant-funded.

"We're glad to be able to get these projects started, and they'll be good additions to the city," Alberson said.