John Sherrer
Historic Columbia Wins Prestigious National Historic Preservation Award
Monday, October 28th 2024
Historic Columbia is proud to announce that it has been honored with the Trustees' Award for Organizational Excellence by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This prestigious award recognizes Historic Columbia’s evolution from a narrowly focused preservation organization into a leader in preserving both the built environment and the memories of people and places often overlooked in history.
2024 Preservation Awards | 203 Wateree Avenue
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Good preservation projects often belie the truly outstanding care and attention an owner may put into a project. This certainly holds true for this Wales Garden property, where Bailey Bill-quality investment included restoration
2024 Preservation Awards | 1407 Gladden Street
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Virginia native and long-time Melrose Heights resident Kandie Wright is no stranger to sensitive rehabilitations of historic properties. Previous efforts at two other neighborhood properties, including a rare Airplane Bungalow and the Prairie Style residence originally owned by the Powell family, have garnered accolades and been a source of community pride.
2024 Preservation Awards | Campus Village
Thursday, May 16th 2024
As part of its master plan, the University of South Carolina embraces design guidelines in its ongoing efforts to meet the housing needs of an ever-increasing student body while replacing obselete facilities within its urban campus. Opened in August 2023 as the initial step in a multi-phased initiative to transform an area of South Campus into a vibrant, community-oriented housing complex, Campus Village ranks as the largest state capital project completed to date.
2024 Preservation Awards | 1214-1216/1218-1220 Taylor Street
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Historically known as the Hillman’s Sporting Goods and Community Finance Company buildings, respectively, these ca.-1915 commercial destinations experienced more than a century of use by various owners that modified elements of their original appearance. Current sibling owners Greg Middleton and Sara Middleton Styles teamed up with Rogers Lewis, LTC Architects, and Pyramid Construction to design and implement a rehabilitation that would benefit from Bailey Bill tax abatement and historic tax credits by following the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. In doing so, the historic character of these mixed-use buildings was retained and restored, while stimulating further economic vitality within the National Register of Historic Places-listed commercial district.
2024 Preservation Awards | Morgan Hall
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 as a contributing building within the Benedict College Historic District, Morgan Hall bears the distinction of being the HBCU campus’s first separate facility intended as the president’s residence. Erected in 1895, the Queen Anne style, three-story building marked a notable achievement in the development of Benedict 25 years after the institution’s founding as one of the earliest Black colleges in the South during Reconstruction.
2024 Preservation Awards | Maxcy Gregg House
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Appreciating the value that historic buildings provide as unique work environments, owners Todd Avant and Mullins McLeod acquired this ca.-1841 former residence, which had fallen into disrepair following years of commercial use. One of Columbia’s oldest former residences, the antebellum property required extensive exterior, interior, and site work—rehabilitation guided by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service to qualify for historic tax credits and the Bailey Bill tax abatement.
2024 Preservation Awards | 1544 Main Street
Thursday, May 16th 2024
2024 Preservation Awards | 1544 Main Street
2024 Preservation Awards | Longstreet Theatre
Thursday, May 16th 2024
Originally called College Hall at its completion in 1855, Longstreet Theatre ranks among Columbia’s most iconic historic buildings and is arguably one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the capital city. For nearly 170 years, the temple-like landmark building has served as a Civil War military hospital, a Reconstruction-era arsenal and armory, science classrooms and laboratories, a gymnasium, and, since 1977, as a theatre in the round.
2024 Preservation Awards | Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital
Thursday, May 16th 2024
A state-of-the-art facility opened in 1952 as the first purpose-built hospital for Columbia’s Black community, Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital operated until 1973. As a remarkable statement of resilience and perseverance during the Jim Crow era, the property received recognition by the Department of the Interior, which added it to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. Despite this distinction, the nearly 20,000 square-foot landmark property remained gutted and windowless, languishing for years as it awaited rehabilitation.