A witch and wider sidewalks are all part of $16M vision to remake Port Royal’s Paris Ave.
What do an infamous witch, 50 golf carts and a pair of walking shoes all have in common? On Paris Avenue, they’re all part of a planned renewal of one of Beaufort County’s most storied villages.
A $16 million vision for the remaking of Paris Avenue — the main street through the artsy old village of Port Royal — is in the works and will make the area more accessible for walking and biking and provide 50 new parking spaces specifically for golf carts and motorcycles.
Change for vehicle parking is planned as well. Currently, 181 of the avenue’s parking spaces are angled. That would be reduced to 45 spaces while the number of parallel spots would increase from 106 to 192.
Bike racks also will be incorporated under the plan.
The plan calls for remaking the avenue’s blocks from Ribaut Road to 7th Street and is part of the largest capital project the town has ever undertaken, Planning Director Noah Krepps said. The urban design priority favors both foot traffic and business accessibility.
Today’s Port Royal was first explored by Frenchman Jean Ribault in 1562 and it was named after the nearby waters of Port Royal Sound. Ribault also founded a settlement on Parris Island he named Charlesfort. Port Royal’s avenues are named after international cities such as Paris, London, Madrid, Columbia, Richmond and Edinburgh.
Under the plan, medians in the center of Paris Avenue will be removed, ugly power lines will be buried, trees will be planted and sidewalks will be widened for pedestrians. To make it fit, Paris Avenue’s lanes will be narrowed from 12.5 to 10 feet, “Which should reduce traffic speeds,” says Dwaine Falls, an engineer with Four Waters Engineering, the design firm charged with the Paris Avenue streetscape improvements.
There will be additional infrastructure improvements including building a new road and stormwater runoff improvements as well. “If you look at it right now, there’s a lot of drainage issues because the grade is off,” Falls says.
The return of the witch
It’s even possible the 12-foot-tall “Nightmare Witch” sculpture and other art will be integrated into the new look for the main street, Krepps said. Referred to by various names — “Mermaid,” “Zephyr” and “Heisman Medusa” (for her pose similar to college football’s famous trophy) — the sculpture once graced the intersection of Ribaut Road and the Paris Avenue, the gateway to downtown.
But two years ago, the landmark was removed and replaced with an array of flags representing the entities that have ruled the town throughout history. At the time, town officials hinted the witch sculpture might make a return.
The witch is a piece of art created by Dessa Kirk as part of an exhibit in Chicago in 2000. Port Royal acquired the exhibit the next year and some of the pieces can still be found throughout town. Kirk created the sculpture after learning of an Amazon forest spirit who protects rubber trees from over-harvesting. The lady is made of recycled steel, her hair of old truck tires. “Mother of Rubber Trees” is her real name.
When will the work begin?
A timeline hasn’t been set for the work, which will be done in phases, Krepps said. The town still needs to secure funding, possibly through grants. The town has recently budgeted a separate fund for street capital projects, which will help in the planning.
“The hope is we get enough funds to do major pieces at once,” Krepps said.
The Paris Avenue design, which the town unveiled to residents at a meeting last week, comes as Beaufort County, in collaboration with the city of Beaufort and town of Port Royal, is planning an even larger project in the redesign of Ribaut Road, which intersects with Parris Avenue at the entrance to the old village of Port Royal.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 11:22 AM.
