Bluffton board supports keeping historic Old Town filling station intact
The delicate act of balancing Bluffton's architectural history with the need to continue developing the bustling Old Town district was on full display Wednesday night, as a town board discussed the future of a historic Calhoun Street property.
Local architect Pearce Scott presented potential redevelopment options for 71 Calhoun St. before the town's Historic Preservation Commission.
That site is the former home of Old Town landmark Eggs 'N' Tricites, a popular retailer that moved to Lawton Street in 2015 after a quarter century on the corner of Calhoun and Bridge streets.
Eggs 'N' Tricites was housed in a repurposed filling station that dates to the 1950s and is considered by the town as a "contributing structure" to Bluffton's history.
Scott's redevelopment plan included three options, all of which involve building at least four new mixed-use structures flanking the current filling-station building.
The question put before the commission was what to do with the filling station: Keep it intact, partially demolish it, or knock it down completely?
Members of the commission as well as local residents on hand Wednesday urged Scott to keep the filling-station structure intact and incorporate the historic building into future redevelopment plans.
"Our history and our past needs to be preserved," commission member Hank McCracken said.
Commission member Christopher Epps agreed.
The current building represents the town's "character and culture" and "we need to strive to keep the building," he said.
Wednesday's meeting served as a jumping-off point for discussions about the future of the project; no votes were cast, and no decisions were made.
Updated plans will have to go back before the Historic Preservation Commission and possibly Bluffton's town council before any shovels hit the dirt on a redevelopment project.
There is no timeframe for when that could happen.
Follow reporter Lucas High at twitter.com/IPBG_Lucas.
Related content:
- After 25 years at filling station, Egg 'N' Tricities relocates in Old Town Bluffton, Feb. 12, 2015
- The Filling Station Art Gallery relocates in Old Town Bluffton, April 9, 2015
This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Bluffton board supports keeping historic Old Town filling station intact."