Old City Jail Charleston SC

The beauty and significance of this building was realized when I was helping renovate a house on Tradd Street "in between jobs" with JP Huguley. We enjoyed sandwiches on the Octagonal Wing built by Robert Mills and dreamed what the future could hold for a place with a shadowed past, but surely a bright future. After some trivial politics, we leased it and the former HUD building/hospital behind it for $1.00 per month. Downtown 13,000 Total square feet for $1.00 a month. The next couple of years I was consumed, enamored and would have sold my soul to this structure, if it asked me to. I love the jail for many reasons - the town center the area once was, architectural innovation, survival of disasters, arches, Robert Mills, vivid and dramatic stories of prisoners held inside and slaves sold outside, archaeology, the money the prisoners gave Senator Fielding, as a child, to buy cigarettes, starting his first lucrative business. The reasons are endless. We wanted to stabilize, and make a creative space for the community that over 10,000 sq. feet of space had to offer. We fought City Council, Mayor Riley, the I'on initiative, HUD, Post & Courier (anyone in a pocket) etc. Everyone had ideas that seemed... ridiculous, from an Old Folks Home, Harris Teeter or the "Riley School of Development" with the surrounding buildings as dorms...Development....in downtown Charleston, ...no land...equals no development. The beautiful structures surrounding the building were also designed by Robert Mills. Kick everyone out, I suppose... The countless hours, tea parties and magnolias in vases for Senator's wives paid off and a school is in place. I miss the brainstorming sessions, the passion for preservation and knowledge to rattle other people's minds as to the significance of my most beloved sanctuary....The Old City Jail.