Historically Speaking Spring 2022

VOLUME

62 ISSUE № 03

Historically Speaking

SPRING 2022

Special Preservation Issue

A NEWSLETTER OF HISTORIC COLUMBIA

From the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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s Historic Columbia (HC) celebrates its 60th anniversary, one of the ways that we measure our impact is by considering the current state of preservation in our community. Founded as an organization to stop the demolition of a 19th-century landmark, preservation is part of HC’s DNA. During the past six decades, countless professionals and inspired activists have shaped our current community by maintaining historic places. The road to this point has not been cut easily; however, thanks to the efforts of HC staff, volunteers, and partners at municipal and state organizations, we enjoy an arsenal of advocacy tools that can be applied to future preservation opportunities and threats.

Tools such as Federal and State Historic Tax Credits empower would-be investors and developers interested in placing historic buildings to new use through adaptive rehabilitation. Tax abatement programs such as the Bailey Bill have catalyzed neighborhood revitalization by freezing property taxes at pre-rehabilitation rates for twenty years. Architectural conservation districts, generated at the grassroots level by residents and owners within those districts, stabilize and increase property values by retaining character-defining features that typically lure new residents and businesses.

And these are just a handful of things at the public’s disposal.

Where has HC factored into preservation? We are the stewards of six historic properties that serve as highly visible examples of best practices in historic preservation policies and bricks-and-mortar care. Our research and preservation staff offer fee-for-service work such as listing properties in the National Register of Historic Places; processing Historic Tax Credit projects; and general research leading to historic site briefs and background for historic markers. Past examples of projects in which Historic Columbia personnel have played a vital role include establishing the National Register of Historic Places districts of Columbia Historic Commercial District (2014), Alta Vista-Camp Fornance-Newman Park (Earlewood) (2015); and Fairview-Melrose Heights-Oaklawn (2016); growing a preservation easement portfolio of sixteen properties; and creating the Connecting Communities through History program that now showcases 21 neighborhood and thematic online tours. Important to these and other programs have been the partnerships with scores of budding public historians, most of whom have come to us for more than 40 years thanks to a strategic partnership with the UofSC’s History Department.

Historically Speaking Spring 2022 | Volume 62 | Issue 03 President Kim Crafton 1st Vice President Mark Jones 2nd Vice President Mike Adams Treasurer Rodrick Shiver Secretary Jeff Payne We share the complex history of Columbia and Richland County through historic preservation advocacy, innovative educational programs, and strategic partnerships.

In This Issue 3

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Preservation Leadership Award: Scott Garvin 2022 Annual Preservation Award Winners

On the cover This year’s award-winning preservation projects represent five districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places for their contributions to shaping the capital city’s architectural heritage.

So, where do we go from here? Consider making a commitment to help us preserve places so that we can, together, share complex stories from the past that connect us in the present and inspire our future. It is a common purpose that has benefited and will continue to benefit us all. Join us in this pursuit by celebrating the exemplary preservation projects and leaders that we recognize in the pages that follow.

Robin Waites Executive Director

Visit us online: www.historiccolumbia.org

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HISTORIC COLUMBIA | NEWSLETTER

preservation

AWARDS

Through our annual preservation awards program, Historic Columbia’s Preservation Committee, comprised of architects, designers, and urban planners, recognize exemplary efforts on the part of businesses, institutions, and individuals that maintain the built heritage of our city and county through preservation-based projects such as rehabilitation or revitalization of historic buildings or construction of new buildings in historic contexts.

Historic Columbia would like to thank the members of the 2022 Preservation Awards committee, including Doug Quackenbush (Chair), Jim Byrum, Adrienne Montare, Chris Rose, Esther Maldonado, Tiara Williams, and Dale Marshall.

Preservation Leadership Award:

As founder of Garvin Design Group, Scott Garvin has been at the forefront of many of Columbia’s most notable preservation projects.

Courtesy of Garvin Design Group.

SCOTT GARVIN

Scott Garvin, founder of Garvin Design Group, emerged as a preservation visionary while still a graduate student at Clemson University’s School of Architecture, during which time he shrewdly analyzed existing conditions and outlined the potential for revitalizing Columbia’s Congaree Vista district through intensely place-based design.

Decades later, in 2005, Scott’s fledgling architectural firm rehabilitated the historic AIS building in a deft move that attracted a nationally prominent coffeehouse to the epicenter of the Vista while catalyzing other business owners to reinvest in an area that twenty years earlier National Geographic magazine had deemed among the nation’s worst urban districts. Since then, the local business owner, architect, and preservation advocate has established a portfolio of enviable success stories involving such landmark rehabilitation tax credit-based projects as Olympia and Granby Mills, 701 Whaley, Mast General Store, and the Palmetto Compress Warehouse.

By influencing others to embrace preservation as a viable option for revitalizing the city center—even with the audacity of doing what “can’t be done”— Scott has inspired creative reuse of Columbia buildings outside of tax credit pursuits. High-profile commissions such as rehabilitating the University of South Carolina’s 1960s Patterson Hall and its 19th-century buildings that comprise its Women’s Quad; the adaptive reuse of the 1950s-era Citadel Shirt Corporation building at 1215 Shop Road; and the transformation of the Bull Street campus’s 1980s-era Central Energy building demonstrate his understanding of preservation as an expansive, evolving practice. Scott was also instrumental in the design of the award-winning, new construction apartments at 612 Whaley and the Columbia SC Visitors Center.

But Scott’s commitment to preservation extends beyond the practice of architecture. As a developer himself, he

leads preservation efforts by example including rejuvenating venerable buildings at 1649 Main Street, Gervais Place, City Market, and Gadsden Place for contemporary users desiring vibrant settings that draw from historic resources.

With more than twenty-five local, state, and regional awards for adaptive use and preservation—including fourteen Historic Columbia Preservation Awards and four Historic Preservation Honor Awards given by the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, the SC Department of Archives and History, and the SC Governor’s Office—it seems only fitting that Scott be further recognized for his career-long application of indefatigable creative energy and business acumen in preserving and protecting Columbia’s historic landmark buildings.

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Preservation, Rehabilitation or Restoration COMMERCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL, RENTAL OR MUNICIPAL

GADSDEN PLACE 1209-1211 Gadsden Street

Owner: Gadsden Place LLC Architect: Garvin Design Group General Contractor: Hood Construction Company Drawing from an arsenal of experience in putting old buildings to new uses while adhering to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, Garvin Design Group harnessed the power of federal and state Historic Tax Credits in its transformation of the twin Italianate buildings historically used as a grocery, a bottle cap manufacturing plant, and an auto parts distribution warehouse.

Constructed in 1920, both buildings required significant work to increase their structural integrity and reveal historic characteristics that either had been damaged or obscured over decades of service. Fires had left scars at each address, but 1211 Gadsden Street suffered more acutely, with a 1989 conflagration destroying its elevator penthouse and leaving marks on its walls, beadboard, and chamfered posts. Several window and door openings stood infilled or altered to accommodate changing tenants and uses.

In adapting the site, Garvin Design Group and Hood Construction Company, Inc. either reversed late-20th century alterations to the buildings’ interior layout, facades, and apertures or mitigated their impact. Massive, chamfered wood posts were left in place wherever possible. Expansion of existing exterior wall vents created shallow lightwells that filter daylight to

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Since its inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 as the West Gervais Street Historic District, Columbia’s Congaree Vista has drawn the creative, the entrepreneurial, and those who value the characterdefining attributes of this architecturally distinct lightindustrial district. Thanks to Garvin Design Group’s recent adaptive use of 1209 and 1211 Gadsden Street into twelve live-work spaces known collectively as Gadsden Place, urbanites have even more options from which to choose.

basement interiors. By leaving joists and ductwork exposed, ceilings recall the buildings’ industrial and commercial uses. Meanwhile, hardwood floors were replaced in-kind on the first and second levels. Reopening infilled doors and windows restored the original rhythm of the buildings’ apertures. Daylighting bricked-in wide bay door openings on the rear elevation for use as windows richly illuminated the interior of the ground-level units. Historic photographs informed the fabrication of replica wood windows and doors. Anchoring the original freight elevator at 1209 Gadsden Street in place on the ground level allowed its shaft downstairs to be

adapted for use as storage space while the shaft upstairs was adapted to house a spiral staircase leading to a private rooftop deck. The surviving elevator penthouse in 1209 Gadsden Street now grants access to a rooftop deck while a replica penthouse at 1211 Gadsden Street restores the one destroyed in the 1989 fire. At 1209 Gadsden a surviving castiron adorned vault was left in place and refloored with luxury vinyl tile to create a usable storage space. Lastly, the addition of a sidewalk and new landscaping along Gadsden Street enhances the tenant pedestrian experience while improving the building’s connectivity to the surrounding neighborhood.

SMOKED 1639-1643 & 1645 Main Street

Owner: Sara Middleton Styles and Greg Middleton Architect: Garvin Design Group General Contractor: Mashburn Construction A “new and handsome building,” when completed in 1866 during Columbia’s post-Civil War recovery, the historic Ehrlich and Friendly Bakery buildings at 1639-1645 Main Street stood partially occupied and highly deteriorated by 2020. But, thanks to their location within the Columbia Historic Commercial District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, the venerable survivor stood poised for a tax creditfueled transformation. Returning the Reconstruction-era building back to its commercial/residential mixed-use roots involved adhering to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for rehabilitation—a journey taken by sibling owners Sara and Gregg Middleton; preservation consultants with Rogers Lewis; architects with Garvin Design Group; and personnel with Mashburn Construction.

Restoration work included removing mid-20th century stucco facades, smooth

pilasters, and large plate glass display windows to reveal the buildings’ original cast iron columns and brick facades.

Historic photographs provided a reference for recreating the storefront, which features repeating groups of glass display windows set atop bulkheads and transomed-crowned recessed double doors, all set within an historically accurate framing system. Extant original windows informed the construction of aluminum-clad, simulated true-dividedlite wood windows custom built for window sockets previously enclosed by masonry infill. Further façade work involved installing replicas of remaining cast-iron attic vents and stucco and cornice restoration

strategically placed at the rear of each dining room to minimize their visibility from Main Street. Placing Smoked’s microbrewery at the rear of the center building and behind an interior storefront wall maximized square footage for dining rooms and minimized visibility from Main Street while supplying views of brewing operations from the building’s interior. Reopening and restoring the 19th-century skylight in the center building created a natural spotlight for a new oyster bar.

Adapting three separate addresses for joint use required careful programming as interior layouts needed to honor the buildings’ historic relationship to one

Retention of surviving historic fabric occurred throughout the entire rehabilitation with beadboard, pressed tin, and plaster ceilings kept throughout the ground level spaces. Pressed tin ceilings in the dining areas were painted dark to minimize the visual impact of new mechanical and plumbing systems and enhance the sense of height. Historic

other and their respective appearances from Main Street. Inside, the team adapted ground floor and basement spaces to accommodate a new restaurant known as Smoked, while rehabilitating second-floor apartments for renewed residential use. Selective demolition of sections of ground-floor interior walls enabled interior access between buildings through cased openings

hardwood floors in the oyster bar, dining room, and vestibules were kept with new mosaic ceramic tile installed around the foot of the oyster bar and in the recessed entryways. Creative reuse of recessed spaces between structural columns led to placing the main bar along the northernmost wall of 1645 Main Street (the northernmost of the three addresses).

Removal of a mid-20th century slipcover facade revealed much of the building’s original visual rhythm.

Restoration of the facade involved installing historically accurate storefronts and second-story windows, as well as decorative trim.

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These two images illustrate the pool building’s dramatic rehabilitation into a must-experience destination for events.

THE POOL AT 701 WHALEY Owner: 701 Whaley

Architect: Lambert Architecture + Construction Services General Contractor: Buchanan Construction Services By the time the team of Richard Burts and partner, Bob McConnell of Red Curb Investments, LLC, entered into contract on the ca.-1918 rear addition of the former Pacific Community Association building known today as 701 Whaley, the former recreational center pool wing had had no roof or windows for at least five decades. Plywood covered gaping window sockets. Sections of its ceramic tiles with their mosaic script numerals had spalled from their mortar bed. Trees and weeds that had grown undisturbed for decades and discarded parts from the engine repair shop that had operated next door choked the pool. But the building’s thick masonry walls and steel girders remained solid, providing the foundation for a genuinely unique adaptive use.

Burts enlisted the support of Lambert Architecture + Construction Services as architect of record and Buchanan Commercial Construction Services for general contracting in realizing the vision of rehabilitating the pool wing into a signature event space like no other in the capital city—or elsewhere for that

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matter. The historic tax credit project involved building an addition on the building’s north elevation and installing a new, historically accurate roof and architecturally appropriate windows, in addition to arriving at a creative approach to maximizing the visual impact of the historic pool’s footprint.

Construction of the addition, which houses a lobby and bathrooms within a building featuring masonry walls and large windows that blend well with the architecture of its historic antecedent, involved providing universal access via an ADA-approved ramp and expansive paver-covered courtyard that had to negotiate several different grades inside and outside the building.

Drawing from years of experience with historic rehabilitation work, Specialty Woodworks out of Lexington crafted 18 historically based windows and five new, non-historic windows, as well as two banks of saw-tooth clerestory roof windows following consultation with the State Historic Preservation Office to ensure correct dimensions and reflective qualities.

Inside, transforming the pool area into a useable space involved installing a steel framework capable of supporting architectural glass panels manufactured

by Laguna, California’s Jockimo, Inc. that each weigh approximately five hundred pounds. Appreciating that the support systems girders would be highly visible, Burts created a wood mock-

up of a custom, industrially inspired design for the structural brackets on which they would rest that Troy Dickson of The Metal Works out of Lexington, South Carolina fabricated following CAD files generated by the project’s architect.

Completed, the new steel matrix interplays well with the aesthetic of the building’s original steel ceiling beams, including one beam that retains the eyelets from a trapeze that swimmers would grab as they jumped off the diving board.

While 701 Whaley staff were highly engaged in the overall design and rehabilitation process, their spirit was perhaps best captured in what can best be called a “Humpty Dumpty” opportunity of epic proportions. While the majority of the pool’s individually hand-laid tiles remained intact, some sections of the character-defining feature had suffered the ravages of time. Staff spent hours meticulously gathering chunks of tile in all shapes and sizes that had spalled off the east wall of the pool, laying them out in a sort of puzzle-like fashion for reinstallation. Their hard work paid off and, rather than having the formerly spalled sections left blank, they have been returned to their original appearance. Collectively, the new construction and sensitive rehabilitation have resulted in a breathtaking second phase in adapting the former company store and community center into a destination for special events.

Preservation, Rehabilitation or Restoration RESIDENTIAL

1221 PINE STREET Owners: Robbie Robertson & Brent Girard

Constructed in 1910 by Nathaniel H. Collins, the Collins family home represented the financial means and aesthetic of prominent, professional African American families residing in Columbia’s Waverly neighborhood.

Standing on the corner of Pine Street and Brayton Alley, the two-and-a-half-story, wood frame Queen Anne style building was architecturally consistent with other such residences erected downtown and within the city’s earliest suburbs. The site is best remembered for family member Ruth Collins Perry, who operated a beauty parlor from her home, providing her clientele with an outlet for and an expression of Black culture. Known as “Mama P.” for her encouragement of local youth to study history, set goals, and persevere in the face of adversity, Perry maintained her business in the home until the 1990s.

After the property passed out of the family’s possession in 1988, the house fell into a significant state of disrepair. Three years later, The State newspaper reported the residence as “boarded up.” Aside from lacking maintenance, the house had been modified through the addition of vinyl siding that had obscured its original clapboard siding and trim.

In 2004, then-owner Sylvie Dessau initiated the rehabilitation process, returning the exterior to its original appearance. Current owners, Robbie

Robertson and Brent Girard, continued that process, paying particular attention to rehabilitating the house’s interior to include contemporary systems and finishes, meanwhile remaining dedicated to maintaining character-defining aspects of the house such as mantels, tilework, floorboards, and trim that speak to the eras of its original owners and occupants.

Outside, the partners pay homage to Mrs. Perry with a reproduction business sign affixed to a doorway.

Appreciating the historical importance of the Collins family’s former home, Robertson and Girard eagerly supported the site’s inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places for its contribution to Columbia’s Black community, when approached by Carlie Todd, a master’s student in the Public History program at the University of South Carolina. Today, this culturally significant property is recognized individually by the Department of the Interior and as a contributing site within an existing National Register district.

1227 MAPLE STREET Owner: Kandie Wright Architect: Tonya Curtis General Contractor: Scott Fulkerson

During the development of Columbia’s first-generation suburbs like Waverly, Shandon, and Elmwood Park, bungalow residences enjoyed tremendous popularity among new homeowners who valued their efficiency, deep porches, and styles that ranged from Craftsman to Tudor and Mission revivals. But it was only in Melrose Heights that a quirky version of this desirable housing form—the airplane bungalow—was built in significant numbers. So-called for the presence of a second-story “cockpit” that emanated from their sprawling rooflines, airplane bungalows in the new suburb

ultimately numbered six with five coming to stand on Maple Street alone.

Erected in 1924 following a plan called the “Ruxton,” 1227 Maple Street stood out among its peers largely for its unique masonry work which combined vertically and horizontally stripes of browns and yellows further enhanced by dark mortar joints and light-colored concrete coping. Further setting the Ruxton aside from others airplane bungalows was its various window sashes, which include diamond and lozenge-shaped panes over single-pane units; four-over-one-lite arrangements; and grouped, paired, and solitary six-over-six-sash arrangements.

In the century since the Ruxton landed on Maple Street, much of the residence had lost its luster. On the outside, aluminum and vinyl siding encased otherwise attractive wood trim, brackets, and exposed rafter tails, while an odd adornment—a circular, medallion emblazoned with a bald eagle, affixed to the front entrance—gave the feel of an embassy long since forgotten. Inside, a failed, earlier attempt at rehabilitating the house had left the building with no staircases, no plaster, no lath, and little in the way of structural support.

What was an eyesore for passersby was a problem in the midstream for those who may consider buying the property, except for neighborhood resident, Kandie Wright.

The owner of the Powell-Wright House— individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the beneficiary of a comprehensive rehabilitation rendered with her husband and herself at the helm, Wright saw opportunity in the Ruxton.

Working with Tonya Curtis of Palmetto Home Design and contractor Scott Fulkerson, Wright oversaw the building’s complete rehabilitation. The result was a house so well detailed that visitors asked if its interiors were original. Windows restored, heart pine and oak floors refinished, stucco and plaster repaired, and a color palette chosen to complement not conflict with the building’s one-of-akind brickwork, the main house (and its neighboring two-story, double-car garage apartment) is on the cusp of welcoming home its new owners to a landmark property within this City of Columbiarecognized architectural conservation district.

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1601 Richland Street

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Columbia, SC 29201

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www.historiccolumbia.org

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YOUR SUCCESS!

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istoric Columbia encourages recipients of its annual preservation awards to celebrate their achievements by participating in our Preservation Plaque program. While May is Preservation Month, your property can shine year-round with a handsome, custom metal plaque suitable for your home or business—regardless as to whether you are one of this year’s winners or your property received distinction in years past. To learn more, visit historiccolumbia.org/ preservation-plaques

Britt Hunt and Alexjandro Garcia Lemos, owners of the historic Friday Cottage on Henderson Street in the Robert Mills Garden District, proudly show off their 2008 preservation award plaque.