COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new bookstore, art installation, and two new event spaces are all being added to historic spaces in Columbia.
On Thursday, the Columbia Design Development Review Commission has approved new art at the Olympia Mills Apartments and an event space at City Art on Lincoln Street.
On the same night, a building the commission approved changes for 11 years ago, finally hosted its grand opening.
"You could hide it behind walls where very few people get to see it but it's such a special place that I wanted people to use it as a space where special memories are made," said building owner Richard Burts.
701 Whaley has been opened for years, but now the former pool area has been repurposed. The 701 pool used to serve as part of a community center for mill workers who worked at the surrounding mills in the Whaley area. Builders were able to cover the pool with glass to create a floor, and maintained several aspects of the original space including some machinery and walls.
The pool area as well as the upstairs part of 701 Whaley, is now a wedding venue and event space.
Building co-owner Richard Burts says when he helped buy the building in 2011, the roof was collapsed and trees were growing through the middle. Many people believed it would be easier to tear the building down, but he believed preserving Columbia history was more important.
"Tomorrow there will be another building that is in crisis mode, and there will be another one the city wants to tear down and the community will have to rally to try to save it," Burts explained. "My goal is to get to them before they become a crisis to where someone wants to tear it down. With enough people here doing historic preservation work and adaptive use work, we can save the fabric of what we have left in Columbia."
Michael Bedenbaugh has worked in historic preservation for years, and says he is happy to see more people around Columbia taking up the task of restoring and saving these old structures.
"It's just inspiring and its wonderful and it's a lesson to everyone out there who looks at old buildings and says they're too far gone. They can be saved, and they used for people to love and have a party," Bedenbaugh said.
At the next DDR commission meeting there will be two historic pieces of land on the consent agenda. The meeting will be on June 16, at 4 p.m. at Columbia City Hall.