The white Colonial Revival building at 10512 Ford Avenue has a ballroom on its second floor that once hosted the town's dances and celebrations. Henry Ford built the Community House in 1936, and a Savannah architect, Cletus William Bergen, designed it. It held classrooms, dormitory rooms, a dining room and that large upstairs ballroom. Today, according to the City of Richmond Hill, the building is vacant.
That could change soon. On September 1, 2026, the City issued a solicitation for a development team to acquire, stabilize, rehabilitate and reuse the building. Sealed proposals are due Monday, November 2. In 2022 the City talked about restoring the house as public space. Now its plan is to hand the work to someone else, and the City's terms spell out exactly how much of the building stays open to the town.
What Ford Built, and What Came After
The Community House was part of Henry Ford's large investment in the area during the 1930s and 1940s, when the area was still called Ways Station. The City's solicitation calls it a center for educational programs, social activities and recreation, with the ballroom hosting dances, celebrations and community gatherings.
After the Ford era, the building took on other jobs. It housed residential lodging and later a funeral home. A chapel was added in 1997. The property covers 1.42 acres. The original house is about 10,538 square feet and the chapel about 2,374. The City's own preservation terms treat the 1936 house as the historic, contributing structure and the 1997 chapel as non-contributing. That label matters for anything a developer proposes to keep or tear down.
Nearly Four Years of City Ownership, in Dates
Bryan County News reported that the City closed on the building on December 29, 2022. It paid $904,500 to Sanford L. Carter Jr., owner of Carter Funeral Home, which was using the building at the time. The money came from SPLOST revenue set aside for historic preservation. Here is how things moved after that:
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| December 29, 2022 | City closes on the purchase for $904,500 |
| December 2022 | Restoration expected to start in 2023 and take two to three years |
| August 28, 2024 | Building listed on the National Register of Historic Places |
| May 2025 | Architects present three rehabilitation options to City Council; no vote |
| September 1, 2026 | City issues solicitation for a private development team |
| November 2, 2026 | Proposal deadline |
At the time of the purchase, Mayor Russ Carpenter described the plan as public space for residents. The City said it would form a committee to decide the building's use. In Fox28 Savannah's coverage that same week, Carpenter talked about the restored property as a possible spark for a downtown that could draw shops, tourism and visitors. He said the specific use was still undecided. The 2023 start and two-to-three-year timeline came from that coverage. The building has stayed vacant since.
The National Register listing came in 2024. The City sponsored the nomination, and Ethos Preservation prepared the materials, according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
The $80 Question From May 2025
The clearest public look at the rehab came at a City Council meeting in May 2025. Bryan County News reported that City Manager Chris Lovell brought in Mariel Hamer of Lynch Associates Architects to present three options. All three included an ADA lift and an elevator addition so wheelchair users could reach the second floor. All three also included new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, HVAC among them.
- Option 1 would replace windows, trim, siding and other exterior pieces instead of repairing them. It would cost less and still meet historic district guidelines, though Hamer noted it isn't typical preservation practice.
- Option 2 would carefully repair and restore the existing pieces, at a much higher cost per square foot because of the labor.
- Option 3 was a museum-level restoration that would remove the chapel entirely and bring back the original wraparound porch.
Option 3 had a downside of its own. Hamer said removing the chapel would cost usable square footage and would make the elevator addition more visible from Ford Avenue. Councilwoman Kristi Cox raised a concern that Option 1 might not meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for historic properties. Lovell responded:
"You're talking about another $80 per foot on 11,000 square feet, so I think what this board needs to determine is what's good enough for a historic preservation."
On about 11,000 square feet, $80 a foot works out to roughly $880,000. That's close to what the City paid for the whole property in 2022. The $80 figure was the gap between approaches, not a total project budget, and the council didn't vote that night. Sixteen months later, the City's solicitation asked outside teams to take on the building, and the question of "what's good enough" went with it.
What the Public Keeps in the Deal
The solicitation is open about what the City is offering and what it wants back. Its stated goals start with immediate stabilization "to prevent further deterioration." From there it asks for a full rehabilitation that meets preservation standards, a reuse that keeps the building's historic character, uses that are open to the public, and long-term care of the property.
Only two requirements are mandatory for every proposal. One is following historic district rules and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The other is making the upstairs ballroom available for City-sponsored events at least two times a year. The room built for the town's dances is the one piece of the building residents are sure to get back, on those City event dates.
Everything else depends on scoring. Proposals are weighted this way:
- Historic rehabilitation experience: 30%
- Quality and feasibility of the proposed end use: 25%
- Public accessibility and community benefit: 20%
- Implementation strategy and timeline: 15%
- References and demonstrated capacity: 10%
The City also lists what it may offer a winning team. That includes waiving some or all permit fees, flexible parking requirements, help with rezoning or variances, reduced infrastructure and utility fees, reduced property taxes for a set period, and permission to sell and serve alcohol on the property, subject to local ordinances. Put the alcohol permission together with a ballroom, a 1.42-acre lot and Commercial-Specialty zoning, and you get a good sense of the kinds of uses the City expects to see proposed. Respondents can also draw on condition reports and drawings prepared by Shamrock+ in 2022 and Lynch Associates Architects in 2025.
What Happens After Monday
November 2 starts a process. It doesn't decide the building's future. The City's published schedule lists evaluation, interviews, selection and negotiations as "To Be Determined." At this stage, teams don't have to name a purchase price or submit a detailed financial proposal. After reviewing submissions, the City may interview teams, ask for more information, negotiate with the top-ranked team, or request full development proposals and financial terms. It can also reject every proposal and end the process.
Anyone who wants to follow it can read the full Community House solicitation on the City's site, listed as RFP 09012026.
The Ford Avenue Neighbors That Already Found Their Next Use
Walk Ford Avenue and you'll pass the rest of the Ford-era buildings, most of which already have their second use worked out.
- Richmond Hill History Museum, 11460 Ford Avenue. It's in the former Ford Kindergarten, built in 1937. The Richmond Hill Historical Society also counts the Bailey Carpenter Barbershop next door as a preserved Ford-era site.
- Ford Martha-Mary Chapel, 10550 Ford Avenue. Built in 1937 and now owned by St. Anne Catholic Church, it sits a short walk from the Community House.
- Ford Courthouse Annex, 9930 Ford Avenue. Ford paid for this 1939 building, which hosted civic meetings and voting and later held government offices.
- Ford Bakery and Commissary, 10750 and 10770 Ford Avenue, both established in 1941.
The Community House is the largest of these buildings and the one whose next use is still open. The proposals that come in Monday will show what development teams think a 1936 ballroom on Ford Avenue can become.
If you live near the Ford Avenue Historic District and want a straight answer about what historic status and nearby projects mean for your street, call or text Paul Armitage. He'll keep an eye on the Community House selection and tell you how it may affect your area.
