SQUARES DESIGNS
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Jerry Spencer: The Mind Behind the Design
Every design of each square starts and finishes in the dynamic, creative mind of Jerry Spencer, ASLA. As a founding member, Jerry has been the wellspring of inspiration since the very beginning of Signature Squares, providing his expertise free of charge to the organization.
Jerry was born in Texas, raised in Oklahoma City. Jerry received his undergraduate degree in landscape architecture at Louisiana State University, where he was awarded the Certificate of Merit for Excellence in the Study of Landscape Architecture by the American Society of Landscape Architects. He received his Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Environmental Design.
His career has taken him from Boston, where he created public park design for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, to Savannah, where he worked on revitalization with the Metropolitan Planning Commission. He opened his own design firm in Savannah, and spent the next 21 years gracing that city, Hilton Head, South Carolina and Sea Island with high-end residential landscaping, resort and park design. It was Brunswick’s exceedingly good fortune that Jerry and his wife, Nora Sue, moved to our city when they purchased a historic residence in the downtown area in 1988.
Jerry Spencer with Signature Squares co-founder and Executive Director Julie Martin.
Renovations to Blythe Square in downtown Brunswick, designed and supervised by Jerry Spencer.
Jerry has spent over a decade and a half designing and supervising construction of historically appropriate improvements to the historic squares of Brunswick. His guiding principal has always been to keep strictly to those improvements that are documented and authentic, in keeping with the downtown district’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
A vintage Marie van Houtte rose in Hanover Square.
Every detail of each renovation, no matter how small, has been thoroughly researched. For example, vintage rose bushes for Hanover Square, identical to the specific varieties used when the square was first turned into a civic park, were tracked down at a specialty grower in Texas. Original plant species and hardscape were identified after countless hours of examining old photographs and illustrations. The hunt for the proper historic light fixtures for renovated squares turned into a quest that literally took years.
An accurate reproduction of the historically correct light fixture in Jekyll Square West was the result of years of searching.
Each project was made possible by the generous contributions of garden clubs, family foundations, businesses and local citizens, as well as assistance from Georgia Power and other public utilities. Jerry regards the City of Brunswick’s in-kind participation and partnership as “priceless.”
“The work of Signature Squares is some of the most important work I have ever done,” Jerry reflected. “It offered me the opportunity to create permanent public improvements that will benefit the city for many years to come. It has taken people a long time to realize how much historic preservation has done for the city, how it has generated a lot of positive activity that would not have happened otherwise.”
Jerry Spencer presents a gift to Julie Martin at the dedication of the renovated Hanover Square fountain on July 4, 2006.
