The Orange Hall Foundation envisions a restored Orange Hall that will preserve and interpret the history of St. Marys, Coastal Georgia and the early days of America. The imprint of Native Americans, African Americans, the Civil War, the Industrial Age, epidemics, women and Southern heritage is long and varied on the Orange Hall property. The stories of the individuals and events that comprise this history are waiting to be told. The interpretive plan calls for a departure from the approach of traditional house museums by not focusing on a single event or a few elite occupants, but instead exploring the broad and diverse history of the community and Orange Hall’s place in it.
The restoration project will go far beyond ‘fixing’ the building’s deficiencies, it will create a venue where citizens and visitors can explore the significant events of the past in a tangible way. Specifically, the restoration program will include intensive archaeological study of the property to more fully explore significant Native American and historic period deposits that have received only cursory examination during previous study.
The physical restoration of the building will focus on restoring the exterior to its mid-nineteenth century appearance in keeping with its significance and the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. On the interior, important periods in the building’s history will be presented through exhibits and the restoration of finishes, features and furnishings from that time. Almost every room will tell a different story. As part of the plan, the original basement Dining Hall will be reserved as a community gathering space, gallery and gift shop to generate income for the maintenance of the property, and an upper floor bedroom will serve as a repository for research materials.
The sensitive integration of new building systems will also take place in order to provide improved environmental control and building protection. An elevator will be installed to provide barrier free access to all levels of the structure.
Finally, the historic landscape will be recreated and the Orange trees for which the property is named, returned.
Tourism is a top economic engine for St. Marys and Camden County where heritage tourism is an actively sought-after commodity. Orange Hall is ready to be restored to its original grandeur and to serve as an anchor to this industry and provide current and future generations a glimpse into their common past.
Even with the slow economic times we will continue to move forward with the restoration of Orange Hall, Unfortunately she is going to look a little ugly before she becomes beautiful again. The Orange Hall Foundation is wanting to bring life back to Orange Hall. The "Grand Dame" is lonely sitting by herself on Osborne Street and needs activity in her walls. We are planning to hold public as well as private events in the house or on the grounds. Projects are in the works to get the house more national exposure and bring in more tourists to the area. We are hopeful those projects will bring in donations to help with the restoration.