Our History: Emerging Structures into a Re:Purposed Future
Thank you to our founding board members: Scott Boylston, Virginia Brown, Mark Fitzpatrick, Kathy Fritz, Sara Jo Johnson, Ramsey Khalidi, Ken Sirlin, and Ursula Tischner, AND to all of those who have worked on the staff, served on the board, volunteered their time, and donated to the organization over the years.
Co-founded by Scott Boylston and Mark Fitzpatrick, Emergent Structures, Inc. obtained 501c3 status in 2011. The seeds of the organization were planted in 2009 when the Savannah Economic and Development Authority (SEDA) and City of Savannah hosted a meeting with the developers of Savannah Gardens, the largest affordable housing redevelopment project in Savannah’s history. Several sustainability advocates were invited to the meeting, including Boylston, who suggested the idea of deconstructing rather than demolishing some of the decrepit duplexes on site that were built in 1943 to house the 15,000 shipbuilders responsible for manufacturing US Liberty Ships during World War II. That initial meeting led to numerous experiments in partial deconstruction over the following year led by a vibrant mix of architects, construction companies, academics, community activists, and industry enthusiasts. A core group of committed individuals met weekly to discuss different ways of generating more meaningful deconstruction efforts throughout Savannah.
In the early days of Emergent Structures, the interest in reclaimed materials was high, but a process to plan, implement, and prepare materials for reuse was practically nonexistent. Emergent Structures continued to work on various strategic deconstruction and on-site reuse projects in Savannah Gardens that incorporated original materials into structural elements like ceiling trusses, and non-structural elements like floors, furniture, and bookshelves. As a way to circumvent regulatory barriers and planning schedules, Emergent Structures also facilitated a set of community material reuse projects, the first of which was an educational garden pergola at Shuman Elementary School, a public school adjacent to Savannah Gardens.
2011 - 2018
Our spirit of innovation was founded on the idea that only when diverse groups of individuals work together can transformative change occur. An early motto “This isn’t a board, it’s a springboard for sustainable change,” highlighted the opportunities that exist when we collectively reimagine waste into wealth. As president of the board from 2011 - 2018, Boylston led the organization through its highly exploratory and collaborative origins toward a more strategic approach, promoting material reuse and sustainability. Emergent Structures engaged with professional and educational sectors across Savannah, building community structures for organizations and neighborhoods, providing vocational training, performing partial deconstructions, and engaging in competitions, workshops, and seminars to build community awareness of and industry support for deconstruction as a valuable and necessary civic process.
In 2018, Bryan Mossing was elected as board president and Emergent Structures hired its first executive director, Scott Crotzer. That same year, with seed-funding from Gulfstream Aerospace, the organization launched a pilot program called Re:Purpose Savannah to further the organization’s work in deconstruction. Crotzer, and assistant director Mae Bowley, trained with a leader in the deconstruction field, David Bennik, learning to deconstruct buildings and salvage materials for reuse. They completed the organization’s first full historic deconstruction, the Anderson Twins, that same year.
2019 - Present
Mae Bowley was promoted to executive director in 2019. She redefined the organization as a women+ led non-profit establishing a sustainable future through the deconstruction, salvage, and reuse of historic buildings. The organization legally changed its name from Emergent Structures to Re:Purpose Savannah in 2023. Under Bowley’s leadership, from 2019-2024, Re:Purpose Savannah grew from a pilot program to a national leader in the deconstruction and salvage industry, training women+ for careers in the industry while promoting circularity and sustainability in the built environment.
