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Adaptive reuse in Columbia


krazeeboi

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I don't think it's a stretch to say that Columbia has some of the best examples of adaptive reuse in the South, and possibly the nation for a city its size. Let's see if I can list all of the examples:

• State Museum (Columbia Mills building)

• Publix (Confederate Printing Plant)

• Olympia, Granby, Whaley mills (old textile mills)

• California Dreaming restaurant (Union Station)

• Blue Marlin restaurant (Seaboard Airline Railroad Station)

• MacDougals restaurant (old train station)

• Barringer building (to be turned into apartments)

• Palmetto building (becoming a Sheraton boutique hotel)

• Tapp's Department Store (apartments)

• Kress store (apartments)

I know I've missed some.

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To be fair, I said "some of the best." The State Museum is one of the largest in the Southeast, if not the largest. The Publix grocery store won the 2005 Special Achievement Award for Economic Development from the International Downtown Association and also won one of the 2006 South Carolina Historic Preservation Awards in the Corporate Stewardship Award category. I think those, as well as the three old train stations, serve as the best examples in Columbia.

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To be fair, I said "some of the best." The State Museum is one of the largest in the Southeast, if not the largest. The Publix grocery store won the 2005 Special Achievement Award for Economic Development from the International Downtown Association and also won one of the 2006 South Carolina Historic Preservation Awards in the Corporate Stewardship Award category. I think those, as well as the three old train stations, serve as the best examples in Columbia.

But did you REALLY expect anything less from Sky? Those definitely ARE some of the "best" examples of reuse in the South...but we can always count on Sky to throw a little negativity into the discussion. :)

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I suppose my opinion would be considered negative, if you view everything in Columbia as perfect. I simply stated what I believe in relation to creative national preservation and adaptive reuse projects. If you live in, or have a personal interest in Columbia, you're naturally going to say that these are the best of the best. Since I have a different perspective, being from another Southern city, I naturally differ in my opinion. It's not unreasonable afterall. I do love these projects and how they have preserved old structures for our enjoyment today. The new South has recently become aware of this great gem it has been neglecting for so long. Too bad we waited until many wonderful pieces of history were lost to the devastating impacts of modern "progression" and gradual dilapidation. :cry:

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I suppose my opinion would be considered negative, if you view everything in Columbia as perfect. I simply stated what I believe in relation to creative national preservation and adaptive reuse projects. If you live in, or have a personal interest in Columbia, you're naturally going to say that these are the best of the best. Since I have a different perspective, being from another Southern city, I naturally differ in my opinion. It's not unreasonable afterall. I do love these projects and how they have preserved old structures for our enjoyment today. The new South has recently become aware of this great gem it has been neglecting for so long. Too bad we waited until many wonderful pieces of history were lost to the devastating impacts of modern "progression" and gradual dilapidation. :cry:

Krazeeboi said "some of the best." Charleston and Greenville have some of the best as well. I suppose I'll get a response saying, "No, Charleston and Greenville have all of the best."

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I wouldn't call them the best, but they certainly are excellent examples of reuse. :thumbsup:

No surprise by that comment :rolleyes:

I suppose my opinion would be considered negative, if you view everything in Columbia as perfect.

No one here views Columbia as perfect. Unlike some who think their city is :wacko:

I don't think any city can compete with Charleston, but for Columbia not being a historical torist attraction, it does a nice job. A lot of the Vista is adaptive reuse. Publix did an amazing job on that transformation, I was getting tired of seeing that old building. The mills are also looking great. There is an old elementary school off of Devine St. that's been turned into condos, can't recall the name.

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No surprise by that comment :rolleyes:

No one here views Columbia as perfect. Unlike some who think their city is :wacko:

I don't think any city can compete with Charleston, but for Columbia not being a historical torist attraction, it does a nice job. A lot of the Vista is adaptive reuse. Publix did an amazing job on that transformation, I was getting tired of seeing that old building. The mills are also looking great. There is an old elementary school off of Devine St. that's been turned into condos, can't recall the name.

That would be the old Schneider School. It was turned into apartments about 20-25 years ago and is now being renovated into condos. They are well underway with the work.

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In overall scale and quality, I don't think Collumbia could compete on a re-use basis with Charleston. Virtually all of the histroical/business district is adaptive reuse.

And I did mean to mention that in my initial post. The greatest examples of this in the South are in the well-preserved cities, such as Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. But for a city that's not as old as those three and was burned to the ground during the Civil War, I think Columbia does a decent job in this category.

And again, I never said anything about these examples being the "best of the best." Geesh, isn't my wording clear enough? :rolleyes:

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And I did mean to mention that in my initial post. The greatest examples of this in the South are in the well-preserved cities, such as Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. But for a city that's not as old as those three and was burned to the ground during the Civil War, I think Columbia does a decent job in this category.

And again, I never said anything about these examples being the "best of the best." Geesh, isn't my wording clear enough? :rolleyes:

VERY clear to those of us with no "anti-Columbia agenda". :)

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And I don't think it's "natural" to differ in opinion simply because you're from another city. I don't live in nor am I native to Richmond or Birmingham, but knowing a bit about what's going on in those cities, I would be a fool to say that they don't have some of the best examples of adaptive reuse in the South as well. It is wholly possible to appropriately recognize an area in which a city has excelled while not living there or being insecure about my own.

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And I don't think it's "natural" to differ in opinion simply because you're from another city. I don't live in nor am I native to Richmond or Birmingham, but knowing a bit about what's going on in those cities, I would be a fool to say that they don't have some of the best examples of adaptive reuse in the South as well. It is wholly possible to appropriately recognize an area in which a city has excelled while not living there or being insecure about my own.

You guys are so funny. You can't stand anyone (from Greenville at least) viewing something a little differently, while still being positive. If you thought for one second my comment came off as completely negative toward Columbia, you totally misunderstood me. I took issue with what I considered an overstatement of these projects. Some of the best in the nation? not in my book, but they are indeed excellent examples of historic reclamation.

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Speaking of schools and condos... The former McCants Elementary School off River Drive is being transformed into condos by the developer of Laurel Hill. It should make for some pretty cool living space! And the name will be "Old School at Laurel Hill." Who wouldn't want to live in a place named "Old School"?!? :)

It gives the phrase, "going old school" a whole new meaning!

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You guys are so funny. You can't stand anyone (from Greenville at least) viewing something a little differently, while still being positive. If you thought for one second my comment came off as completely negative toward Columbia, you totally misunderstood me. I took issue with what I considered an overstatement of these projects. Some of the best in the nation? not in my book, but they are indeed excellent examples of historic reclamation.

I also said for "a city its size," and I went back and excluded the well-preserved cities, as no one can really compare to the Charlestons, Savannahs, and New Orleanses in this regard. The residential examples are pretty common in just about any city of significant size, but the State Museum, the Publix grocery store, and the three restaurants are really good examples, IMO. While I know that similar examples exist in other cities (old train station turned in a Harris Teeter in Charleston and Mill's Mill in Greenville, for example), I know of no other city with all three such examples--not to say there is no other city that has done all three, because I'm sure there are. But it certainly doesn't seem to be a common phenomenon, which is why I say Columbia has some of the best examples, at least in the South.

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And I did mean to mention that in my initial post. The greatest examples of this in the South are in the well-preserved cities, such as Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. But for a city that's not as old as those three and was burned to the ground during the Civil War, I think Columbia does a decent job in this category.

And again, I never said anything about these examples being the "best of the best." Geesh, isn't my wording clear enough? :rolleyes:

you don't have to roll your eyes...LOL. I apologize, your original statement immediately set off comparisons in my mind, as statements such as "the best in the south" tend to engender comparison. Afteralll best in the south implies better than someone elses. That said, upon re-examining the statement, its clear you are only celebrating what Columbia has done.

I don't think I can even be remotely viewed as anti-Columbia. After all, I was born and raised in Columbia, and hope to eventually move back to Columbia.

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Oh no, I wasn't downgrading the fact that you mentioned Charleston. It is clearly one of the kings of adaptive reuse in the nation, and certainly THE king in South Carolina. I just think that, considering Columbia's history, what it has managed to preserve and adaptively reuse is laudable.

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You guys are so funny. You can't stand anyone (from Greenville at least) viewing something a little differently, while still being positive. If you thought for one second my comment came off as completely negative toward Columbia, you totally misunderstood me. I took issue with what I considered an overstatement of these projects. Some of the best in the nation? not in my book, but they are indeed excellent examples of historic reclamation.

Nevermind...not worth it. :)

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