Take a look back at Ellis Square, from market to community space

Take a look back at Savannah's Ellis Square, tracing its evolution from a bustling city market to a parking garage and now vibrant gathering place. More: From the archives: Ellis Square’s journey to a community hub This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Take a look back at Ellis

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a look back at Savannah's Ellis Square, tracing its evolution from a bustling city market to a parking garage and now vibrant gathering place.

City Market, 1950s.

1950s photo of City Market.

Savannah City Market parking garage on March 14, 1996.

In a little more than a week the City Market Parking Garage, built in 1954, has been reduced to rubble. Construction of a new underground parking garage will begin once the debris is cleared. The area above will be converted back to its original intent, a city square. Known as Ellis Square, it was one of the nine original squares laid out by Georgia founder Gen. James Oglethorpe.

Ground water is continuously pumped from a well sixty feet below the Ellis Square underground parking garage project. There are two itdentical wells removing ground water from the site as workers continue to dig deeper.

A construction worker pushes a wheelbarrow as others prepare the foundation, left, for a large construction crane that will be used to assemble the underground parking garage at Ellis Square.

A view into the construction of the parking garage beneath Ellis Square from a high above on a crane.

A construction worker cuts a piece of steel rebar at the bottom level of the underground parking garage construction site at Ellis Square. Workmen were busy Monday preparing rebar for the next concrete pour scheduled for early this morning. (John Carrington/Savannah Morning News)

A lifesize statue of Johnny Mercer, sculpted by Savannah artist Susie Chisholm, was unveiled before at large crowd of Mercer family, friends, and fans at Ellis Square on what would have been Mercer's 100th birthday. (John Carrington/Savannah Morning News)

Jace Perossa is caught in the spray from the interactive fountain as he attempts to run through while visiting Ellis Square during Friday's dedication ceremony on March 19, 2010.