Carpenter, Gene B.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, The Beehive Foundation was instrumental in the preservation and restoration of historic properties and the creation of new infill buildings within Savannah's Historic Landmark District, including 16 homes, a church (the Unitarian Universalist Church on Troup Square), and the William Scarbrough House, which was restored to house the collections of the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, initially founded in the 1960s by Lane's father, Mills B. Lane, Jr. (1912-1989) and located on River Street. In 1989, Mills Lane, through The Beehive Foundation, proposed the idea of a five-year project to refurbish the main street of Savannah's National Historic Landmark District, Bull Street, by planting new trees, repairing brick sidewalks, replacing concrete walks with brick, and adding cast-iron lights and trash receptacles. The project's mission was to enhance the visual quality of Bull Street, the primary spine of the Historic District, and to make it a showcase of what could be done throughout the rest of the District. A complementary program, the City Sign Improvement Project, created new street and square name signs, and traffic control sign frames. Of the $1.7 million total cost of the project, $1.5 million was contributed anonymously by Lane's immediate family, consisting of Mills Lane himself, both personally and through The Beehive Foundation; his mother, Anne Waring Lane and his sister, Anita Waring Lane. The balance was contributed by the Lane Foundation (Mills Bee Lane Memorial Foundation), The Oglethorpe Fund, the City of Savannah, and businesses and residents of Bull Street. Historic Savannah Foundation was asked by The Beehive Foundation to administer the Bull Street Improvement Project. Several businesses and homeowners, at their own expense, worked with the project to include parts of their properties as extensions to the Bull Street project, most notably the "Old" County Courthouse, the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, NationsBank, the Bay Street at City Hall Project, and the residential extensions along West Charlton Street and West Perry Street. After the completion of the Bull Street Improvement Project in 1996, Lane spearheaded the Savannah Squares and Streets Project (the "SSS" project) as an extension of the Bull Street Improvement Project, out of which evolved The Landmark District Tree Fund, which was also supported in large part by The Beehive Foundation.