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Contractor to breathe new life into dilapidated homes
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Two crumbling Broad Street buildings in the heart of the city’s judicial district are poised to become showplaces again after decades of neglect.
On Aug. 1, the city of Charleston sold Nos. 93 and 97 Broad St. to 93 & 97 Broad Street LLC for $650,000. James C. Meadors, president of Meadors Construction and Renovations, won the city’s request for proposals to buy the buildings, which will require preservation of the structures while working with the Historic Charleston Foundation to ensure it’s in agreement with development plans.
Terry Bell-Aby, spokeswoman for Meadors’ project, said the buildings could eventually be used in either a residential or commercial capacity, or possibly both.
“They could be leased, they could be sold; we don’t know,” Bell-Aby said. “We are committed to preserving the buildings. Maybe that will inspire someone. Maybe once they’re restored, they’ll be marketable.”
Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. is pleased that the sale of the historically valuable buildings has yielded a solution that will provide for their protection and preservation while adding needed office or residential space, he said.
“This preservation will permanently ensure the continuity of the historic facades while providing a contemporary use that will contribute to the urban fabric of Broad Street,” Riley said.
It is believed that No. 93 Broad St. was built circa 1783 by Peter Bocquet Jr., a wealthy planter. It was later sold to an upholsterer and then rented to a bookseller, Ebenezer Thayer, who is suspected of altering the first floor for commercial use. The building was purchased in 1850 by James Simons, a prominent lawyer who became speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives and resided on the upper floors while using the ground floor for law offices.
Simons made additions to the building around 1855, and his son opened a law office there after Simons’ death. The house was later rented to various tenants and is thought to have been used as a private school, dental office and boarding house. By 1936, the main house had become the Charleston office of the S.C. Board of Fisheries. In 1961, the kitchen house at the rear was occupied by Coastal Food Products and the Russell Wragg Piano Studio.
It was sold to the city in 1984 and has remained vacant since then except for being used for an exhibit during the 1991 Spoleto festival.
No. 97 Broad St. was one of three identical Charleston single houses built in 1835 by Mordecai Cohen. It was used as rental or investment property for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. The building was remodeled in 1900, vacant from 1915 to 1918 and then occupied by various families.
The other two single houses built by Cohen were torn down in the mid-1950s, and the supermarket chain Piggly Wiggly acquired the space in 1969. The supermarket used No. 97 for storage and altered various parts of the house to suit its needs, removing part of the first floor piazza to install a conveyor belt and loading dock. The store closed in 1983, and No. 97 has been vacant since that time.
The city has owned the two properties since 1984, when they were purchased as part of a larger land acquisition in an effort to preserve the area around the intersection of Broad and Meeting streets and allow the expansion of the Hollings Judicial Center.
Sharon Brennan, director of the city’s Department of Economic Development, said the buildings were not restored sooner because the developer of the judicial center had a 10-year option to buy them. That option expired in 2003.
In 2004, a portion of the back wall at No. 97 began to collapse, prompting the city to fund an immediate stabilization effort. Interior and exterior scaffolding was placed at No. 93 to brace the walls.
“There was danger to life and limb. Things were falling down and off,” Bell-Aby said.
The buildings are in stark contrast to other addresses on the block, including private homes and pristine structures housing art galleries and law offices. A 1770 Georgian mansion at No. 95 Broad is listed for sale at $3.5 million.
The listing agent, Kay Kennerty of
AgentOwned Real Estate, said it is a major plus for her company to know that Nos. 93 and 97 will be restored.
“It’s wonderful for us to have that question mark gone,” Kennerty said. “When there’s indecision, then there’s reluctance to invest in a major property like 95 Broad.”
While preservation is imminent, officials at Meadors say the logistics of the two sites present problems. They are on a busy street adjacent to other homes and businesses where there is limited parking. Also, both properties back up to restricted federal property under the watch of Homeland Security.
In order to stave off further deterioration, construction is expected to begin immediately after Meadors obtains Board of Architectural Review approval. The Government Services Administration also needs to allow access and permission for site security
fencing.
“We will have a great deal of work just making them safe and stable for the construction to proceed,” said Fillmore Wilson, who will lead the conservation project
for Meadors.
The buildings have extensive termite and water damage, and they experienced further damage after taking a lashing from Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
It is too soon to tell how much the preservation project will cost, Bell-Aby said.
“That’s the biggest question mark,” she said. “We’re going to catalog everything we possibly can to reuse. And where it’s too deteriorated, we’ll replicate.”
No. 93 is in worse condition structurally and will be the first to enter construction, Bell-Aby said.
“You cannot walk on the floors in there. There is scaffolding set up with planks,” she said.
There are some architectural gems amid the decay. No. 93 has original brownstone windowsills and ornate ironwork grates over the windows, and the wide-board pine flooring may date to the 18th century. At No. 97, there are French doors along the piazza.
Becky Fenno, who has a master’s degree in historic preservation and is the lead architect for Meadors, is looking forward to the opportunity to work on such buildings in the heart of the historic district.
“We have some great photos to work from, and we believe when the reconstruction of No. 93 is complete, it will largely mask the rear of the courthouse and create a more pleasing vista down the alleyway from Broad Street,” Fenno said.
“As for (No.) 97, most of the second and third floors were not altered by the grocery store. Most of the original fabric remains, so we should be able to restore everything from fireplaces to doors and moldings. In addition, we look forward to restoring the first floor piazza and entrance from Broad Street.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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