Historic Columbia announces 2024 Preservation Award Winners
May 21, 2024
Awards honor individuals and projects for design and preservation accomplishments
Historic Columbia (HC) announced the recipients of its 2024 Preservation Awards. Each year, HC celebrates Preservation Month by recognizing local projects and leaders that have maintained or added to Columbia and Richland County’s historical, architectural, and cultural heritage.
“This year’s Preservation Awards celebrate the excellence of owners, developers, architects, consultants, and contractors whose talents have shaped our city by retaining historic buildings and introducing historically inspired additions to our cityscape,” said Robin Waites, Historic Columbia’s Executive Director. “We’re honored to acknowledge their work in ensuring Columbia’s built history continues to be celebrated as a vital part of our community for today’s residents and future generations.”
Historic Columbia awarded recipients in the following categories: Preservation Leadership; Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal); Revitalization (Any Ownership or Use); and Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Residential/Single Family).
Preservation Leadership:
Janie Campbell
Janie Campbell’s exemplary preservation consultation work has underpinned numerous revitalization and adaptive use projects throughout Columbia. As a preservation consultant for Rogers Lewis Attorneys at Law, she has steered more than 85 successful federal historic tax credit projects in South Carolina alone, 34 of them in Columbia and West Columbia.
Preservation Leadership:
GBX Group LLC
For more than a decade, GBX Group LLC and its partners have played a critical role in revitalizing Columbia’s Main Street Historic District, with the goal of transforming it into a vibrant retail, residential, and commercial corridor. GBX has worked alongside public and private-sector partners to repurpose and transform 13 buildings in 13 years, with the objective of bringing economic and community growth and prosperity to the historic downtown.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
The Babcock Building | 2110 Pickens Street
Clachan Properties — Property Owner
Walter Parks Architects — Architect
Rehab Builders, Inc. — Contractor
Fearnbach History Services, Inc. — Preservation Consultant
Built in multiple phases between 1858 and 1885, the sprawling 254,000 square-foot complex stood vacant for 25 years until Clachan Properties initiated the property’s rehabilitation into 208 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment units. Financing the ambitious project involved coupling $39 million in HUD loans with historic tax credits to cover the $60-million-dollar budget. Today, thanks to its design, contracting, and financial team members, The Babcock has realized its potential of playing a central role in the larger success of the BullStreet District.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
Eurytania & Brown Buildings | 1728-1730 Main Street
GMS Revive Tenant, LLC — Property Owner
Mashburn Construction — Contractor
Lambert Architecture + Construction Services — Architect & Preservation Consultant
Under the ownership of the Middleton family, the ca.-1901 Brown and ca.-1938 Eurytania buildings recently underwent an extensive, historically sensitive revitalization, illustrating how previously vacant or outdated office space with historic relevance and material can be successfully adapted by following preservation techniques. The Eurytania and Brown buildings’ storefronts were recreated based on archival images with an effort to preserve the character-defining elements of these Main Street properties.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital | 2204 Hampton Street
Allen University — Property Owner
GMK Associates Architectural Division, Inc. — Architect
GMK Associates Design – Build Division, Inc. — Contractor
Crescent Growth Capital, LLC — Preservation Consultant
Operating from 1952 to 1973 as the first purpose-built hospital for Columbia’s Black community, the nearly 20,000 square-foot Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital remained gutted and windowless for more than a decade. Allen University worked with various stakeholders and partners to transform the historic building into a center housing an “Institute for Civility” and special exhibits highlighting local Black leadership. Rehabilitation work involved abatement of hazardous materials, installation of new windows and infrastructure, complete interior renovation, and the construction of a 4,675-square-foot addition housing an auditorium, classroom, and office space.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
Longstreet Theatre | 1300 Greene Street
University of South Carolina — Property Owner
Midwest Maintenance Inc. — Contractor
Meadors, Inc. — Architect & Preservation Consultant
The University of South Carolina’s 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. A comprehensive analysis of material composition and conditions guided the restoration, with as many as 24 layers of paint were removed from the 1855 building’s stuccoed exterior. Many features on the building’s façade were stabilized and restored, and some missing components were fashioned after consulting archival images.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal): 1544 Main Street
Daniel Boan & Matthew Bridges — Property Owners
Architectural Concepts — Architect
Blackstone Construction — Contractor
Rogers Lewis — Preservation Consultant
Marcus Munse & Rita Patel — Proprietors
Erected in 1871, 1544 Main Street’s first floor has hummed for decades with patrons dining at Drake’s Duck-In, while the building’s second story remained vacant since 1941. Utilizing many of the historic elements that perpetuate the historic commercial character of Main Street, the Reconstruction-era building has been reinvigorated, with Drake’s Duck-In again occupying the first floor and The Flutter Wing, an expansion of Hotel Trundle, on the second floor.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
Maxcy Gregg House | 1518 Richland Street
Avant & McLeod – Richlands, LLC — Property Owner
Avant Holdings — Project Manager
Studio 2LR — Architect
Historic Columbia — Preservation Consultant
One of Columbia’s oldest former residences, this ca.-1841 building had fallen into disrepair following years of commercial use. A carefully executed rehabilitation of the interior and exterior involved elements—technical and financial—that are integral components of far larger commercial historic tax credit endeavors. Extensive carpentry replacement, new plumbing and electrical, and the removal of asbestos flooring are just some of the many improvements that make this property now suitable to a host of potential tenants.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
Morgan Hall | 1600 Harden Street
Benedict College — Property Owner
BOUDREAUX — Architect
Hood Construction — Contractor
LCK — Project Manager
Erected in 1895, this Queen Anne style, three-story building was Benedict College’s first separate facility intended as the president’s residence. The 8,000-square-foot former residence received much-needed exterior rehabilitation made possible through a $750,000 award from the National Park Service’s Historically Black Colleges & Universities grant program.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Commercial, Institutional, Rental, or Municipal):
1214-1216/1218-1220 Taylor Street
GSM Taylor, LLC — Property Owner
LTC Associates — Architect
Pyramid Contracting — Contractor
Rogers Lewis — Preservation Consultant
Using historic photographs to guide their restoration, the historic character of these ca.-1915 mixed-use buildings have been retained and restored, bringing further economic vitality to this historic district. State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service staff assisted in arriving at historic image-based storefronts providing both private entrances to the two upstairs short-term rental apartments and public entrances to first-floor tenants, whose interiors connect to allow for circulation between the commercial spaces.
Revitalization (Any Ownership or Use):
Campus Village | 1531 Whaley Street
University of South Carolina — Property Owner
BOUDREAUX — Architect
Juneau Construction — Contractor
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. This phase involved constructing four, six-story residential hall buildings evocative of earlier areas of campus and adjacent residential neighborhoods.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Residential/Single Family):
1407 Gladden Street
Kandie Wright / She Shed LLC — Property Owner
Firehouse Renovations — Contractor
Palmetto Home Designs — Architectural Planner
1407 Gladden Street features both a one-story Tudor Revival cottage and a two-story garage apartment that are contributing buildings in the Melrose Heights-Oaklawn Architectural Conservation District and the Melrose Heights-Oak Lawn-Fairview National Register District. Historic features were preserved, and modern conveniences were added in the latest sensitive rehabilitation by long-time Melrose Heights resident Kandie Wright.
Preservation, Rehabilitation, or Restoration (Residential/Single Family):
203 Wateree Avenue
Jeff & Emily Walker — Property Owners
Homeowners Jeff and Emily Walker, recent transplants from Charlotte, showed great attention to detail and outstanding dedication to the preservation of their ca.-1917 Wales Garden home from the start of the process, becoming more involved in the history of his home and preserving original features as the renovation process advanced. In doing so, they championed why preservation matters, and highlighted character-defining elements of this Colonial Revival home.
Historic Columbia would like to thank the members of the 2024 Preservation Awards committee, including Dale Marshall (Chair), Eugene Bell, Jim Byrum, Esther Maldonado, Adrienne Montare, Chris Rose, and Tiara Williams.
About Historic Columbia
In November 1961, a small group of individuals intent on saving the Ainsley Hall House from demolition officially incorporated as Historic Columbia. Over the next five decades, the organization, which was founded on the premise of preservation and education, would take on the stewardship of seven historic properties in Richland County. Today, the organization serves as a model for local preservation efforts and interpretation of local history. Visit historiccolumbia.org or find us on Facebook, Instagram, X, or YouTube for more details.
