Bananas president disputes damage to Daffin Park live oaks

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Savannah Bananas President Jared Orton is disputing claims that construction of the team’s training facility damaged nine live oak trees in Daffin Park.

To see the mayor and city manager’s comments, click HERE.

The dispute resurfaced months after construction was completed.

“I think maybe it was convenient that we were doing some work and then all of sudden it’s like oh now nine of them have been destroyed and damaged,” Orton said. “Nine is just not even close to the case, we did not come close to nine of these trees.”

Construction and damage claims

The construction occurred in February. The mayor and city manager spoke on the issue Tuesday, after which Orton said he wanted to show the lack of damage caused by the project.

“The idea that we destroyed nine live oak trees is just wholly inaccurate and not even close to the actual construction that we did, and the actual construction that we were required to do to finish that building and so to be here in September of 2026, we are just confused by and that’s what we did not understand,” Orton said.

Photos received show root damage that the city says occurred during construction.

Orton said the trees faced other issues unrelated to the Bananas’ construction, including decades of parking allowed up to the trunks and poor drainage infrastructure, which he said the team helped fix during construction.

Savannah arborists said the trees were existing in “already very poor growing conditions.”

Orton’s response

“We did not add to that, that had already been the case for this stretch of property and also some of the rest of Daffin park for many many years, we simply came in, cleaned up the road, put it back down as usual,” Orton said.

City’s remediation plans

Bollards placed at the site have helped remediate the damage, which the city said could cost up to $30,000.

The city also mentioned a “next phase” that would place bollards around more trees in the park and decompact soil, replacing gravel with organic material for tree roots.

According to photos and the city, damage occurred, but it was not fatal. The city now has plans to expand assistance for live oaks beyond the nine trees that were damaged.