College of Charleston Arts Building Set for Multimillion-Dollar Overhaul

A rendering shows a design of what the renovated Albert Simons Center could look like from St. Philip Street. College of Charleston/Provided

By Maura Hogan mhogan@postandcourier.com
The Post and Courier
Sep 3, 2021

The College of Charleston is set to begin a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Albert Simons Center for the Arts.

It realizes a plan that was set in motion by the college years ago.

“This has been a long time coming and we’re delighted,” School of the Arts Dean Edward Hart said in a statement.

From the project’s onset, the college estimated its cost at $50 million. The arts center, which is on St. Philip Street on the college campus, will be closed for the next two years while the 42-year-old building’s renovation is completed. The renovation will upgrade classrooms and performance spaces as well as the building’s technology and infrastructure. Construction is slated to begin in late September.

The College of Charleston’s Albert Simons Center for the Arts will undergo extensive renovations. File/Brad Nettles/Staff

Designed by Liollio Architecture and HGA Design Firm, the reimagined Simons Center is conceived to be inviting to students, featuring colors inspired by iconic architectural features found on campus, such as the blue-green door of Towell Library and the coral color of Randolph Hall.

“It will look brighter and I think it will be more noticeable from the street,” he said.

The work will involve 87,365 square feet, according to Brad Weiland, senior project manager for the College of Charleston’s facilities management, with the renovated Simons Center encompassing more than 99,000 square feet.

Hart points out that while the Simons Center has served the department well since opening in 1979, it was in need of an upgrade after more than 40 years. It opened with the aim of serving up to 800 students.

A rendering shows a possible design of what the renovated lobby of the Simons Center could look like, featuring large windows and tall ceilings. College of Charleston/Provided

Today, the College of Charleston said the building, which is the main hub of the School of the Arts, accommodates five times that number.

Among the key improvements will be new seminar classrooms, updated and enlarged classroom spaces and a new two-story black box theater. The School of the Arts will also benefit from a state-of-the-art costume shop, scene shop and theater design studio; new sculpture, printmaking and drawing studios; a digital lab and gallery/multipurpose room; new music practice rooms and revamped dressing room spaces.

The renovation also includes mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and updated technological systems.

Five locations around campus will house School of the Arts programs and departments during the renovation. These include Harbor Walk West, 136 St. Philip St. (the former site of Redux Contemporary Art Studio); the Lightsey Center, Calhoun Annex (172 Calhoun St./Chapel Theatre); and 329 King St. (corner of King and George streets).

A rendering shows a design of the main corridor inside the Albert Simons Center. College of Charleston/Provided

With the Recital Hall and the Emmett Robinson Theatre, located within the Simons Center, closed for the duration of the renovation, many School of the Arts performances will be held in the college’s Sottile Theatre as well as the Chapel Theatre.

Construction will run through 2022, and major completion of the building will take place in the spring of 2023, with an estimated opening for the fall 2023 semester, Weiland said.

With large windows, a modern façade and carefully chosen brick, Hart said the entrance is meant to subtly grab visitors’ attention as they make their way from the rear of Randolph Hall to St. Philip Street.

College of Charleston students visit the Albert Simons Center for the Arts in 2019. The building, located on St. Philips Street, soon will be getting a makeover. File/Brad Nettles/Staff

The building will also give added visual prominence to School of the Arts, and its role in the city of Charleston’s arts scene. It dovetails with new branding, centered on the tagline “The Artistic Heartbeat of Charleston.”

“There really isn’t an artistic institution in this town that we aren’t somehow involved with, whether it’s a direct relationship or partnership or whether it’s our graduates that are over there or our faculty members,” Hart said. 

The College of Charleston has deep connections with Spoleto Festival USA, Piccolo Spoleto, the Charleston Symphony, the Charleston Gaillard Center, the Preservation Society of Charleston, as well as many area theater and dance companies and art galleries.

“We can just go on and on, and I think it’s time for us to claim that. Charleston is an arts city and we’re at the heart of it,” Hart said.

With such an integral role in Charleston’s arts scene, the significant investment also bodes well for continued arts vitality in the years ahead.

“When times are tough, very often the arts take it on the chin. And our administration has shown the foresight to really stand by us with this project, which indicates that the arts really are a priority for the College,” Hart said.

CITY OF CHARLESTON FIRE STATION 11 GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FRIDAY

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Groundbreaking Ceremony to be held at 1835 Savannah Highway on August 24, 2018 @11 AM.

Please join Mayor John Tecklenburg, Charleston Fire Chief Daniel Curia, members of City Council and other invited guests at a groundbreaking ceremony for Fire Station 11. Parking at the site is limited and attendees are encouraged to carpool. Spaces at the adjacent Charleston 9 Memorial Site (1807 Savannah Highway) will be reserved for dignitaries, members of the media and special guests. A limited number of spaces will be available to attendees off of Wappoo Road adjacent to the bike trail.

Vote for Liollio in Post & Courier's 2018 Charleston's Choice Awards!

Voting has begun for Post & Courier’s 2018 Charleston's Choice Awards and Liollio has been nominated for Architecture Firm under the Professional Services category! Cast your votes in a wide array of categories now through July 25th. Please support Liollio with your vote by visiting https://bit.ly/2sm64at and scrolling down to the Architecture Firm category. Thank you in advance for your support! #CharlestonsChoice #Architecture #Culture #Context #Collaboration

Post & Courier: SC Welcome Centers Getting Some Overdue Attention to Impress Travelers

By Dave Munday
dmunday@postandcourier.com
Jun 23, 2018

When it comes to tourism, never underestimate the importance of a restroom. Providing public restrooms and making them easier for visitors to find has been the topic of much discussion in Charleston.

Public facilities with innovative designs can be a visitor attraction in themselves, as noted by the annual International Toilet Tourism Awards. The awards by MyTravelResearch.com were created "to show the close link between innovative, clean toilets with great design and a successful local tourism economy — or as we like to call it the trickle down effect."

For example, a public restroom in Lucas, Kan., called Toilet Bowl Plaza, is noted as a big visitor draw. The building itself was designed in the shape of a toilet, and the inside is covered with mosaics and quirky creations by local artists.

The public restrooms at the welcome centers along the major arteries leading into South Carolina have been a prime focus lately of state tourism officials. The nine official welcome centers play a key role in the state's economic development, according to Duane Parrish, director of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

"Over 80 percent of visitors to South Carolina come by car," Parrish said. "First impressions mean everything." Eight welcome centers ring the Palmetto State, capturing visitors coming from every direction. The other one is near the middle. When Parrish took over PRT seven years ago, he said, the welcome centers were pretty shoddy and unimpressive — restrooms, vending machines, a small space to pick up some brochures or ask a question. They were only open five days a week, closed Mondays and Tuesdays to save money.

The Department of Transportation turned over maintenance to PRT in July 2014. The tourism agency got about $4.5 million from DOT to maintain the centers this year, according to DOT's budget report. The restrooms were cleaned up, landscaping and flowers added. That was just the beginning.

There are no plans to make the restrooms worthy of a Toilet Award, but the centers themselves are being overhauled. Two have been completely rebuilt in the last two years, costing about $4.5 million each. One is at Hardeeville on Interstate 95 just north of the South Carolina-Georgia state line, replacing a center that opened in 1978. The other is at Fort Mill on I-77 south of the North Carolina border, replacing one that opened in 1981.

The new Hardeeville welcome center, on I-95 just over the border from Georgia, is much more spacious and high-tech than the old one, and the exterior reflects the colors of Lowcountry sandy soil and beach sand. Provided/SCPRT/Perry Baker

The exterior of the rebuilt Fort Mill welcome center, on I-77 south of the North Carolina border, was designed to resemble the clay color variances of the Catawba pottery native to the area. Provided/Paul Warchol/Liollio Architecture

Construction on a new Dillon welcome center in the Pee Dee region, on I-95 just south of the North Carolina border, is set to start later this year. The current Dillon center opened in 1973.

The newer centers are more spacious and modern than their predecessors. Rather than just racks of brochures advertising the state's attractions, high-definition screens on the walls stream live webcams from around the state. The exteriors are designed to reflect the local culture. For instance, the new Dillon center looks like a farm house typical of the rural, tobacco areas of the Pee Dee.

The new Dillon welcome center, on I-95 south of the North Carolina border, will resemble a farm house typical of the rural, tobacco areas of the Pee Dee. Provided rendering/Jeff Lewis Architect

Parrish said the goal is not only to let travelers know about the state's attractions but to give them the impression that South Carolina is on the cutting edge. "It's not only important for tourism but also for economic development," he said. "We don't want them to look dated."

About 3.5 million visitors a year step inside the welcome centers, according to PRT. The agency spends about $1.5 million a year to staff them with trained travel counselors versed in South Carolina history and culture.

The counselors welcome visitors, answer questions, give out coupons and occasionally make reservations. The department says its counselors made about $2 million in hotel reservations last year, even though the centers are equipped with wireless Internet service so travelers can do it themselves over their phones. “It’s a chance for us to have that personal touch," Parrish said. "No matter how great technology gets, nothing will ever replace the 'human touch.'

"Businesses that cater to tourists can put their brochures in the center for free. PRT reports about $88,000 a year from selling spaces for bigger ads.

For instance, the Santee welcome center — the one near the center of the state on I-95 south, near I-26 — is the closest to Charleston, and also one of the smallest. The town of Mount Pleasant has a poster on the glass front door. It says, "Where Rush Hour is a pleasant surprise, but still leaves you speechless." There's a photo of some dolphins a driver might see while crawling over the Ravenel Bridge or Shem Creek.

Around the corner, on the path leading to the women's restroom, Drayton Hall advertises its new visitors center. Inside, a wall panel advertising North Charleston has a photo of the boardwalk at Riverfront Park with the slogan “always take the scenic route.”

The tourism department doesn't get any money from the vending machines. Those are reserved for entrepreneurs through the S.C. Commission for the Blind's Business Enterprise program, which includes hiring drivers for those who can't see well enough to drive. The policy is a federal mandate under the Randolph-Sheppard Act.

It would seem the state could make some extra money selling T-shirts or other souvenirs, but that's not allowed along interstate highways under the 2012 Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act.

Reach Dave Munday at 843-937-5553.

Doug Kelbaugh, FAIA Presents Inaugural Lecture at MRUD Program Charleston

Clemson's School of Architecture is pleased to announce the inaugural lecture for the Master of Resilient Urban Design program in Charleston SC. Doug Kelbaugh, FAIA is the Emil Lorch Collegiate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning and Dean Emeritus Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning. For additional information on this lecture and the MRUD program, please contact:  B.D. Wortham-Galvin, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, 843-723-1747, bdworth@clemson.edu. Visit the Clemson School of Architecture news & events page here.