Historic Columbia Foundation recognized exemplary preservation projects during its annual Preservation Awards May 4 at St. Peter's Catholic Church, Cardinal Bernardin Center at 1529 Assembly Street. The Center was one of eight local projects recognized during the Foundation's 2009 Preservation Awards. The awards highlight recent preservation initiatives by individuals, businesses, and neighborhoods that value the importance of retaining built culture through restoration, adaptive reuse, and sensitive new construction in historic districts.

This year's winners RESTORATION/PRESERVATION

Memorial Garden

1919 Lincoln Street

In 1944, the Garden Club of South Carolina sought to recognize servicemen and women of World War II by establishing a memorial garden in their honor. The club commissioned the nationally recognized landscape architect and author Loutrel Briggs, a pioneer in early garden restoration, to render plans for what would be the first landscape of its kind. By 1957, Briggs' concept was completed as the memorial garden and featured considerable plantings, a fountain of Pompeian stone, a tearoom, gardener's shed, and a brick wall with an iron gate.

As with any landscape, the garden matured over the next several decades and came to include new plantings and basic amenities as funds allowed. However, such upkeep remained true to Briggs' original design. In 2003 the club engaged the services of landscape architect James Cothran to provide guidance for an extensive restoration of the site. Now fully implemented, the site was rededicated on April 3, 2009.

701 Whaley Street

The building at 701 Whaley Street served for decades as a community center of the Olympia and Granby Mill village. In 2000 the structure was vacant and in significant disrepair when a pair of local developers, Richard Burts and Robert Lewis, took on the project of returning 701 Whaley Street to its use as a gathering space for the community.

A major characteristic of the original building was its front façade, which once consisted of large plate glass display windows between cast iron columns. At the inception of the renovation the façade had been infilled with concrete block and no original windows remained. Today, the building includes a replica of the original storefront, incorporating the salvaged cast iron columns. In addition, new windows were designed to replicate the original windows and the layers of paint were removed to reveal the structure's original common red brick appearance.

The restored interior of 701 Whaley exposes the existing heavy timber columns, beams, and decking. In areas where timbers were missing, steel columns were added and trimmed in wood to imitate the original structural members. Cable trusses were rehung in locations found prior to the renovation.

Overall, much care was taken by Garvin Design Group and Hood Construction to restore 701 Whaley with accurate details and to incorporate new elements when necessary. As a result, it has once again become a community center for the Mill neighborhoods and the City of Columbia.

ADAPTIVE REUSE

2537 Gervais Street

The house at 2537 Gervais St. was built in the late 1910s by George Woodson, who worked for Southern Railroad. Woodson, born in Richland County about 1865, erected the large but simple two- story clapboard home for his family. By the 1980s the single- family residence had been divided into a quadplex. Purchased by Heather Cairns and Ann Barton in 2006, the building has been transformed; it is now listed as a local landmark in the City of Columbia and utilized as office space.

Cairns and Barton took a personal, hands- on approach in their commitment to restoring the site to its original floor plan. During the demolition phase, they discovered the original porch shape, a lost diamond- shaped window, and missing interior steps. When the need arose for replacing materials, they milled trim to match the original forms and scoured city salvage yards, antique malls, and auctions to find period appropriate replacement doors, fixtures and mantels. This adaptive reuse is an extraordinary example of how individuals with a vision can transform a property and uncover local history in the process.

Boozer- Crumpler House

1529 Laurel Street

Built about 1912, this impressive Neoclassical style mansion is associated with the family of dentist and real estate speculator J.W. Boozer. Quite different from the asymmetry and irregularity of late 19th- century Victorian homes, this property recalls the balance and symmetry of the Classic Revival and Greek Revival styles, popular in American architecture from 1770- 1830 and 1825- 1860 respectively. A single- family residence until the 1970s, it was later divided into small apartments and then used as a law office.

In 2006, Greg Harris and Johnny Gasser purchased the former residence in significant disrepair. Excited to return this house to its original grandeur, the lawyer team conducted extensive renovations to the site including refurbishing floors, opening concealed doorways, and recovering the hidden historic details.

Olympia Mill

600 Heyward Street

This landmark textile mill building, located in the historic Olympia neighborhood, was constructed in the early 1890s and represents the height of W.B. Smith Whaley's accomplishments.

Uncharacteristically ornate for a mill, the Romanesque Revival style building includes two ornamental towers decorated with terra cotta stringcourses, pilaster capitals and cornices. Vacant for over ten years, the structure had fallen into disrepair. Several additions to the front and rear façades dramatically altered the building's character. What had once defined the identity of this proud, working- class community had become a symbol of a bygone era.

Owner and developer Ron Caplan worked with the Garvin Design Group to adaptively reuse the 400,000 square foot building as 200 loft apartments while conforming to the Department of Interior's stringent requirements.

Village 5 910- 912 Harden Street and

2119- 2125 College Street

Building renovations and the organization of the structures under one concept began in early 2006. Upon completion, the complex, known as Village 5, contains nearly 20,000 square feet of rentable space. In addition to any special build- out for tenant needs, the project has resulted in a total rehabilitation of the structures to include insulated roofing systems, exterior skin treatment, clerestory restoration as well as new and restored storefront and window systems.

The most prominent building located at 910 Harden Street is believed to have been constructed in the late 1930s as the White Way Laundry. Before completion, it was expanded to the north. On the front façade the original decorative brick, art deco style pilasters, pre- cast capitals and parapet coping have been retained. The other four structures within the complex fronting College Street were employed for a variety of uses dating from the 1940s. The original structure located at 2123 College Street may have served as a small grocery or market for the Lower Waverly District.
NEW CONSTRUCTION IN A
HISTORIC CONTEXT
St. Peter's Catholic Church
Cardinal Bernardin Center
1529 Assembly Street

In 2006, the Boudreaux Group was selected to design a new parish life center that would meet the needs of the time- honored parish at St. Peter's Catholic Church in downtown Columbia. The new Cardinal Bernardin Center was designed to complement the church campus by emphasizing the elegant, traditional design of both the existing church and the St. Peter's Regional Education Center. The Center houses a dining hall, commercial kitchen, sacristy, bride room, nursery, administrative offices, conference and classroom spaces, as well as an open, flexible gathering space, which opens to a carefully planned courtyard.

The new Cardinal Bernardin Center sits immediately on the corner of Assembly and Taylor streets. Details of its brick echo the same accent pattern used originally on the church. The size and location of the new structure serve as a contemporary bracket that embraces and emphasizes the church as the centerpiece of the campus.

PRESERVATION

LEADERSHIP AWARD

Local Neighborhood Leaders- Cottontown, Heathwood, Hollywood/Rose Hill, Rosewood, Shandon, Sherwood Forest and Wales Garden

In July 2007, a group of engaged neighborhood leaders joined to give voice to concerns about development in their neighborhoods. Catalyzed by the demolition of an unprotected building in Heathwood and the new construction of another in Shandon, these leaders came together to identify solutions to protect the character of Columbia's historic residential core. Through tireless activism on behalf of the historic districts within the capital city this group attended press conferences, the Planning Commission, Design/Development Review Commission, City Council and ad hoc meetings to discuss the establishment of neighborhood protections.

Almost one year after the debate began, the City of Columbia adopted the "Interim Measures for Community Character Protection." This text amendment created a new zoning overlay district that protects districts that are eligible for landmark designation from demolition of existing contributing structures and new construction that will negatively impact the historic character of the neighborhood.