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Charles Towne Landing says goodbye to 1970s
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Gone is the bland, square parking lot, the abstract Pavilion that once housed a theater, cafe and gift shop, and the geodesic dome, a structure resembling a cross between a spacecraft and an igloo where special events were hosted.
Charles Towne Landing has said goodbye to the 1970s, when it was created as part of the state’s Tricentennial celebration.
Closed since March, the state park reopens Aug. 17 with a new focus on its history and new buildings, including a visitor center and museum that blend better with the park’s pristine natural surroundings and ancient past.
“It is, I think, probably the largest investment the state has made in its park service,” said Marion Edmunds, spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. “It’s going to be a learning laboratory.”
Chad Prosser, director of the parks, recreation and tourism department, said the state is reinvesting in its entire park system and placing a intense focus on Charles Towne Landing.
“Charles Towne Landing was losing about $1 million a year,” Prosser said. “Attendance had fallen every year; there was not a reason to visit from a facility standpoint. What we’re trying to do now is create a new reason to visit. “
Charles Towne Landing’s animal forest, which features animals such as bison that were common to the area in the 17th century, is being overhauled along with the park’s walking trails, historic site,s replica of the Adventure, a sailing ketch such as the one that brought the first settlers to the site along the Ashley River in 1670.
The original replica sank at its mooring in 2004, one of the signs that the aging park was going to need reinvestment if it was going to grow attendance.
Edmunds said the park never fully recovered from Hurricane Hugo.
“With Hugo we had really a turning point, with all the damage and needs the state had economically,” Edmunds said.
The park’s identity had also become muddled and it was used by a growing number of food festivals and other community events that did not correspond with its historic flavor. The park is really an outdoor museum, he said.
“It’s a miracle to have 664 acres pristine like this in an urban area,” Edmunds said. “It’s 10 minutes from areas of Charleston and North Charleston where people can come and kind of decompress.”
Rob Powell, who became the park’s manager in 2004, said he was attracted to the position because he wanted to manage a different kind of state park. Powell was formerly the manager of Table Rock State Park in Pickens County and Hickory Knob State Resort Park in McCormack County.
The only places in the country that compare to Charles Towne Landing, he said, are Plymouth, Mass.; Jamestown, Va.; St. Maries City, Md.; and St. Augustine, Fla.
“This was the state’s birthplace,” Powell said.
Because Charles Towne Landing was privately owned until 1969 and never developed, it is archeologically rich. Some archeological digs were performed before the park opened in 1970 and digs resumed again just five years ago.
“Some of the interesting things we find are some of the trade beads the colonists brought with them to trade with Native Americans,” said Elsie Eubanks, the park’s chief archaeologist.
Edmunds said the total price tag on the park’s renovation is $19 million.
“About $12 million has been spent or committed. The last $7 million was just approved through legislative appropriations,” he said.
Dawn Dawson-House, public relations director for the parks, recreation and tourism department, said the state in the past three years has invested 10 times more money in marketing and promoting its state parks, to the tune of $500,000 annually. The agency will spend $110,000 in promoting Charles Towne Landing, including more than $80,000 on a billboard campaign in the Charleston area.
The current administration is taking a business approach and realizes it has to spend money to make money, Edmunds said.
Charles Towne Landing was the site of several plantations and includes the Legare Warring House, former home of Ferdinanda Legare Waring, who planted the grounds with azaleas, camellias and live oaks in the 1930s. After Waring’s death, the house, which dates from the 1840s, was used as a summer residence for the governor.
Two years ago, the state began using the Legare Waring House for special events, including weddings. That is a business that is expected to grow as Charles Towne Landing blooms once again.
“For 2005, we had about 12 events,” Edmunds said. “This recent fiscal year, we doubled that. It’s an important amenity for the community and an important element of our business plan, when you look at the dollars and cents.”
Powell said Charles Towne Landing, at its peak year in 1970, attracted 750,000 visitors. During its last full year of operation in 2004, attendance had dwindled to 80,000. The park began opening only on weekends in October 2005.
“Our goal is to have 250,000 paid customers this year,” Powell said.
Grand re-opening ceremonies for the park will begin at 11 a.m. Aug 17. Replicas of 17th century cannons will be fired at the event, which is free to the public. Once the park re-opens, work will continue on restoration and development of educational facilities and programs.
“This is still a work in progress,” Edmunds said. “This just marks the beginning.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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