Media Coverage
Turner: Stop preventable losses of Charleston’s cultural heritage and plan for future
preservation-admin , January 15, 2025
Originally published in The Post and Courier, Jan. 15, 2025.
The prospect of irretrievable loss is the single-most important motivator of the historic preservation movement. Barring natural disasters, the places we choose to save for the future are up to us, and we all have a role to play.
It would be naive to expect a 100% success rate in preventing the erasure of our cultural heritage that comes with the demolition of historic buildings. Losing a cherished place can be the painful result of economic and sociological factors outside of our control.
There are occasions, however, when there are no excuses. Last year, a neighbor’s porch camera caught the dramatic collapse of the facade of 190 Line St. The vernacular Freedman’s Cottage already had been recklessly dismembered and left propped up over a weekend. When the property owner, a real estate investor, was later questioned by the Board of Architectural Review as to why so much historic material had been removed without approval, he blamed city staff for not offering his team better counsel on preservation methods.
Sometimes places that define us are lost in plain sight not for lack of advocates, but because they are deemed unworthy by those in power. The fate of historically black neighborhoods such as Charleston’s Grant Hill, which was destroyed by highway construction, offers important lessons.
Preserving neighborhood character may require that we reevaluate the rigid definition of what qualifies as “historic.” Many older places throughout our region have character and are full of embedded memories, and their revitalization sustains who we are.
With basic documentation, formal recognition is a path to develop tools for protection. And the menu of policies to prevent unreasonable demolition is long. Notice and delay requirements are the simplest options to give the community time to find alternatives. But we can also give more authority to our independent boards to simply say “No.”
The Preservation Society of Charleston is a membership association that provides a platform to engage the community in this cause. We challenge our leaders to take action. The immense pressures on our region continue to amplify, felt by many in the skyrocketing cost of housing. Rising land values make vacant lots more valuable than the older buildings that rest on them.
We cannot stop market forces, but we can commit to a values-based approach to land-use regulation. The costs for bad actors can rise. Our toolkit can be updated. The treasured aspects of our region can be protected as we grow to meet demand. We can welcome new neighbors while protecting the irreplaceable qualities that make Charleston unique.
In 2025, our dedicated professional staff will be focusing on these challenges. Our winter membership meeting Jan. 21 will feature a talented group versed in the building trades, heirs’ property preservation and the BAR process to discuss preventable demolition. The Carolopolis Awards in February will feature the work of skilled project teams and their remarkable preservation efforts. For 71 years, these projects have served as key examples of what is possible when a building appears beyond repair.
Meanwhile, we will continue to build programming for our free online Resilience Guidance for Charleston publication. It is a crucial new aid for residents of all income levels living in older homes, which includes hundreds of best practices for property maintenance and resilience planning.
We are fortunate in the Lowcountry to build on a culture of preservation that has stood the test of time and proven its worth. With many willing partners, we welcome the next chapter to inspire both the public and private sectors in the important work of stewarding what was left to us and what we will leave behind.
Brian Turner is President & CEO of the Preservation Society of Charleston.