Published in the Charleston City Paper
They say change is the only constant in the
universe. It's usually fruitless to challenge what "they" say, but
let's face reality: The wave of change at Charles Towne Landing has not been
constant. Heck, it's hardly moved at all, unless you count the removal of that
embarrassing "Damaged by Hugo" sign on the fence around the
interpretive center.
The sign adorned the eyesore fence around the
structure for years as an advertisement for tourists on just how constantly
changing our universe really is in the Holy City.
A concise timeline of how quickly things move at
Charles Towne:
In 1670, English settlers sailed up the Ashley River
and founded Charles Towne on the site where the park now stands.
In 1970, South Carolina held a tricentennial gala
during which Charles Towne Landing was opened and immediately declared the
crown jewel of the celebration.
In 1989, Hugo blew through town and caused damage to
one of the jeweled ornaments, the interpretive center. A fence was put up for
safety reasons and apparently as a calculated stall for time to mull over what
to do about it.
In 2000, the interpretive center is still standing
but still closed. The public has been kept guessing about holdups on
renovations, and the recent announcement that it would be razed was met with
dismay by almost everyone except park officials.
"Well, you have to remember the structure
itself is more than 30 years old," says park director Ron Fischer.
"It was actually created for the tricentennial and was never meant to last
a long time."
In a city that reveres anything older than a decade,
labeling a 30-year-old as past prime is shocking, but Fischer insists a
facelift is in the works. "We're dealing with a complete revitalization of
the site itself."
The Best Laid Plans
The park is comprised of 664 acres, most of it
marsh, with an interpretive center, an events facility, an animal forest,
several picnic shelters, bike and paddleboat rentals, gardens, a model of the
early Charles Towne village, and a replica of a ship that brought the first
settlers into the area.
The first permanent colony of Carolina, the property
at that time called Old Town Plantation was preserved for three centuries by
the Legare and Waring families. Prior to the tricentennial celebration in 1970,
the Warings agreed to transfer ownership of Old Town Plantation to the state so
the property could be used as a focal point for the upcoming celebration. The
Tricentennial Commission developed the site into a unique historic park,
renaming it Charles Towne Landing, and opened it in April 1970. In its first
year, the park was visited by more than 555,000 people.
By law, the Tricentennial Commission created only
for the celebration period was disbanded on Jan. 1, 1972. At that time, all
assets of the commission were transferred to the South Carolina Department of
Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT). While PRT had plenty of experience
operating a number of state parks centered on camping, trailers, hiking,
beach-combing, and mountain climbing, Charles Towne Landing was PRT's first
historic park.
But there were problems from the beginning.
According to Marion Edmunds, PRT's director of public information, "not
much planning was going into the long-term aspect. There was much more focus on
the tricentennial celebration, but no one thought beyond that."
One example of the short-range vision was the
interpretive center, which housed a museum beneath it. "Here's an
underground museum that sits at sea level," explains Edmunds. "They
created a structure that inherently could not be maintained. The humidity was
ruining the artifacts, and we had to remove them. All sorts of fixes and
remedies were attempted, but the structure could not function as it was
intended to function."
Before the 1970s were out, Edmunds says, they
realized they had a serous problem, and the interpretive center was only the
tip of the iceberg. "The Charleston area has undergone tremendous growth,
something that wasn't anticipated 30 years ago. The Landing became an important
recreational site, not the commemorative location it was created to be, and we
simply weren't prepared for that many visitors seeking recreation."
Over the years, PRT has brought in experts to look
at the facility and decide its best, most responsible, and most sustainable
uses. "The dramatic and grand vision that the tricentennial had for that
brief period had to be put into context of decades," says Edmunds.
"Hugo was a critical moment in that process because it brought such
fundamental change. The state decided to really look at that."
Now going on its second decade of "really
looking at that," the state has made several decisions not to be
confused with action about the park's future. But it won't be easy to pay
for. Nor has it ever been.
Money Matters
In the late 1970s, the original governing body of
the park morphed into the Charles Towne Landing Foundation, organized as an
independent group to raise funds and accept in-kind contributions to support
various items at the Landing the state could not or would not fund, such as
trees, shrubbery, tools, and bicycles.
During the 1980s, funding by PRT decreased,
advertising was minimal, and Hurricane Hugo left major damage to the park and
its buildings. Edmunds admits that after Hugo, "the state and PRT were in
a serious financial situation," but still the state PRT missed the
opportunity to grab available funds from the Federal Emergency Management
Administration (FEMA). The interpretive center was insured, but it's unclear
whether a claim was filed or monies were actually received to help with
renovations or rebuilding.
Although there has been little advertising, in its
first few years of existence, Charles Towne Landing was nearly self-supporting,
and in 1974 and 1975 it actually made a profit. Since then, funding has
dwindled, and although the Foundation has been diligent in its fundraising
efforts, it's not enough.
"Parks generate about 60% of what it takes to
operate," says Edmunds, "but Hugo greatly affected that revenue
stream. And we had numerous other parks where we had to expend a lot of money
just to make them accessible."
Edmunds notes that a lot of the money expended was
eventually recovered through disaster relief, which he says is a long, tedious
process. "We've actually just closed the books on the Hugo relief. It
happened more than a decade ago, and we're just now closing the books."
According to Edmunds, Charles Towne Landing
generates part of its operating expense from admissions, part from concessions,
and the balance from state appropriations. Some insist the state appropriations
aren't enough, but the state park system has a lot of mouths to feed.
"In our system of 48 parks there are only a
handful of them that earn as much revenue as they cost to operate," says
Edmunds.
In a recent general assembly session, the state
decided it was time to feed Charles Towne Landing, allocated more than $5
million for revitalization. According to Fischer, money has been earmarked in
this fashion:
$3.6 million will go toward a new interpretive
center.
$75,000 will build a new entrance.
$1.2 million is slated for improvements to the
animal forest.
$150,000 is allocated for archeological research.
The Grand Quest No One Can Refuse
There are other subtle signs of change. Take the
trash cans
which management did. Literally. The picnic areas, now bereft of
trash recepticles, are part of the park's Project Green.
"This project was designed to encourage people
to pack out what they bring in," Fischer explains. "It encourages
recycling because people are more aware of what trash they produce."
However, most people aren't aware until they go
hunting for the trash cans and have to haul their garbage back to their cars.
Wouldn't this tend to discourage picnickers?
"Not at all," Fischer crows. "It's a
wonderful and unbelievably successful project." Fischer points to an
example of a 300-person reunion last year in which they didn't leave one scrap
of trash behind. Whether the family had the foresight to bring in bags or was
caught by surprise at the can-less picnic areas isn't clear.
A Future with History
A $5 million-plus pocketbook, removal of trash cans,
and recent archeological finds at the site all point to a gradual change in
purpose and function for the Landing. Which may not be a bad thing: the park
seems to have had some difficulty defining its mission over the years. Its
focus now is on the careful cultivation of its historic element.
Recent digs at the site have uncovered what we've
all suspected: that native Americans occupied the area long before it was
called America. "Experts say this is the original site of the
development," notes Edmunds, "rich in history even before the first
Europeans arrived. We suspect there'll be a lot of important information about
this property, and we don't want to have that process locked away from the
people."
Plans are to use the ongoing archeology "in a
more interactive way with the public, citizens, and residents of greater
Charleston." Edmunds envisions schools bringing children to the site to
observe the archeological digs in process. "It'll be more of a learning
experience when they can see how you discover those things. They'll have an
opportunity to learn about the natural environment."
Meanwhile, the road to get there is a collaborative
process involving several governmental bodies, not necessarily the most
efficient means of effecting change. "Unfortunately one of the effects of
doing a careful job is that it takes some time," Edmunds admits. "If
you tear something down, it's torn down, and we don't want to make that
mistake. There's a growing understanding of what needs to happen there, but we
wanted to make sure we're doing the right thing."
Although change, even good change, can sometimes be
a painful process there will be tears when that interpretive center comes
down PRT hopes to lessen the growing pains by making the Landing "less
of a monument and more of a living classroom." Fischer expects that the
Landing will be just as popular, perhaps even more so, with the upcoming
change.
Just don't forget to bring your own trash bag.