Funds begin rolling in for Katherine Hall renovation
More than $1 million has come in for renovating Katherine Hall — the first of two rounds of penny sales tax funding to revitalize the old mill community center.
Built 110 years ago by the Riegel Textile Corp. as a centerpiece for the town of Ware Shoals, Katherine Hall has languished in disrepair for decades. The 2016 Greenwood County Capital Project Sales Tax referendum included a project to spend $3.4 million renovating the building.
Kyle Campbell of Preservation South, who serves as project manager for this undertaking, said the building is a rare example in South Carolina of a large building in the Beaux-Arts architecture style. Campbell helped the town prepare its 2015 conditions report on the building, which was used to secure CPST funding the next year.
On last Tuesday, Greenwood County CPST Coordinator Josh Skinner updated county council on the penny sales tax’s quarterly revenue. Of the more than $3.3 million that came in from the CPST in the last quarter, $1.25 million are going toward the renovation of Katherine Hall. The project will receive nearly $3.4 million in total, with the rest of the funding coming at the end of this quarter.
Campbell said the town of Ware Shoals approved contracting with the McMillan Pazdan Smith architecture firm to help design the renovation.
“They have design teams and architects that will soon get to work on the rehabilitation design,” he said.
If all goes according to plan, he said they hope to have plans complete by the end of the summer, and then set the project out to bid for a builder.
“Town council has voted to put a number of town services and leisure in that building, as it once held,” Campbell said. “Our goal is to see it used all the time.”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, construction and material prices have increased significantly, driving up the costs of many building and renovation projects. Campbell said Ware Shoals accounted for this factor, and is applying for tax credits to attempt to offset any cost that might go beyond the funds the CPST provides. Campbell said he and the town are working with a Greenville-based law firm to ensure their applications meet compliance requirements for these tax credits.
The penny sales tax made this and other projects possible, and Campbell said he’s hopeful that a campaign to pass another CPST referendum this year will pass on the November ballot, securing more funds for communities like Ware Shoals seeking to make improvements.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Campbell said.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 13, 2024
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!