Renovated building needs restaurant

By Katie Gambrell
Edited By Hunter Roach
March 4, 2009

Smoke from the mills and the grinding sounds of machinery once greeted people to the Olympia neighborhood on the edge of downtown Columbia. People were born, grew up and died in the textile village, where workers toiled in 12-hour shifts for $12 a week.

The "saltbox" houses where mill hands raised their families still stand.  So do landmarks like Southside Baptist Church.  But Olympia, just a few blocks from the Vista's high-end restaurants and fast-paced nightlife, is being revitalized.
 
Owners of one of Olympia's renovated landmarks, the building at 701 Whaley St., want to keep the revitalization on track by putting in a classy restaurant. But right now, Richard Burts and Robert Lewis are stymied as to how they can make that happen.

"From the beginning it has been important to both Robert and I that the community is aware of our overall goal," Burts said.  "We want to make this building what it once was, something the community can be proud of."

After the building's roof collapsed in 2000, Columbia was going to condemn and demolish it.  Burts and Lewis, along with the Richland County Conservation Commission and the Historic Columbia Foundation, stepped in and saved it. Thus far, the renovation has cost $6.5 million, $500,000 more than the original budget.

Burts said the renovation is about 95 percent complete and that most of its 47,000 square feet of space is rented. The only large space left is ideal for a restaurant because of the character and its location on the first floor, he said.

Kristian Niemi, owner of Gervais and Vine and Mr. Friendly's New Southern Cafe, considered leasing the space.  His initial plan was to open The Black Rooster, a French brasserie, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

"It's a beautiful building with a lot of character," Niemi said. He believes the addition of Carolina Stadium, the new home of the USC baseball team about five blocks away, makes it an up-and-coming area. 

But Niemi just opened the Italian restaurant Rosso on Forest Drive and said he will not invest money and time into The Black Rooster until Rosso is on its feet.

Even without a restaurant, Larry Gates, 80, a lifelong resident of Olympia and president of the Whaley Street Neighborhood Association, said residents appreciate the improvements.

"For people that remember what 701 used to be, watching it fall apart was hard, but now we are grateful to have been able to watch it be built up again," Gates said.

In the early 1920s, the building owned and operated by Pacific Mills was the pillar of the textile community as a community center.  It had a library, pool hall,  swimming pool and bowling alley; two basketball courts; and a movie theater.

"We used to call it the Y; there was always something going on in the building," Gates said.
 He said people initially thought Burts and Lewis has stuck their necks out in seeking to rehab the building and would never get their money back.

John Ingram, 85, grew up in Olympia in the 1920s and worked for Pacific Mills from 1946 to 1951.

"The mill was like a daddy for mill workers and their families," Ingram said.

Ingram toured the renovated 701 Whaley during its grand opening in October and said there is still a sense of familiarity.

"I could envision what it used to be when I walked through the grand opening," Ingram said. "They left some of the original bricks and the original stairs. When I walked up the stairs, I expected to see the old theater."

Wim Roefs, chairman of the board for the 701 Center for Contemporary Art, on the second floor, said people are curious about the building.

"The building draws people because they know the building," Roefs said. "They've seen the building go to pieces and then restored."

Roefs would like to see a bakery or coffee shop downstairs. He said it would suit the building more than a fine-dining restaurant.

Bob Guild, 60, who has lived in Olympia for 35 years, said the latest renovations are taking the area back to its roots as a "little company town" for mill workers and their families and that a restaurant would help.

"The new urban design of the community is more pedestrian-oriented, and any kind of restaurant would be good as a neighborhood meeting place," he said.

Guild is a well-known Columbia lawyer who in the 1990s forced DHEC to better protect the environment and finally succeeded in closing the Laidlaw landfill in Sumter County.
The building's owners are determined to look for the perfect restaurant for the space, and Olympia residents hope it happens soon.

With the large investment that he and Lewis have made, Burts said, "we are committed to help the community continue to grow."