Duke Street fixes are ‘a long time coming’ for Beaufort residents who cite broken promises
Some residents on Duke Street in Beaufort have heard the promises for years, but they’ve been forced to be patient through staff changes and new political leadership. Last week, new promises were made and the clock, and hope, began again.
In 2012, developers reclaimed a derelict two-block stretch in Beaufort’s famed historic district bounded by Bladen, Duke, Prince and Adventure streets. The redevelopment project, called MidTown Square, received rave reviews locally and nationally.
But residents who live along one stretch of that development — the 1600 block of Duke Street — never got the sidewalks, streetlights, parking and tree plantings the city promised to complete in conjunction with the private investment. Adding to the Duke St. resident’s woes is the regular flooding they experience.
After a dozen years of complaints, residents might finally get some action on the improvements they were promised back when Barack Obama was still in his first term as president.
At a priority-setting retreat by the City Council last week, council members said finding the funding needed for Duke Street should be a priority.
The recommendation came when the City Council met for two days to talk about priorities in 2024. Part of that discussion was about “emerging” capital projects that are not currently funded in the budget but can’t be ignored. City Council members agreed that finishing the Duke Street streetscape work and addressing the drainage problems should be one of those priorities.
“I’m going to live and die on the sword on that,” Mayor Phil Cromer said about funding for Duke Street. “We promised this a long time ago.”
City Manager Scott Marshall is now looking into whether funds can be redirected toward the Duke Street work — and another three capital priorities identified by the City Council during the retreat. The others are fixing drainage problems at the Battery Shores subdivision, replacing the boat launch and playground equipment at Pigeon Point and improving to a new park that honors one of the first Black regiments to serve in the Civil War.
“I’m not getting my hopes too high because we’ve heard this before,” George Oehlert, who lives at 1604 Duke Street, said of the council’s commitment to finding funds for the Duke Street project. Still, says Oehlert, “I’m hopeful.”
The MidTown Square project, bounded by Bladen, Duke, Prince and Adventure streets, involved reviving a mostly vacant block-and-a-half in the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood. Oehlert was one of the original residents who purchased 16 custom homes that now make up the square. He’s the only original resident left.
Southern Living Magazine named MidTown Square its best community development of 2013, citing the “smart planning” of Allison Ramsey Architects and Allen Patterson Residential for the infill development in the heart of the city.
The city, meanwhile, pledged $1.3 million in federal grants for the streetscape improvements for the square. But the 1600 block of Duke Street — except for a temporary gravel sidewalk that was put in at Oehlert’s insistence — never got it’s share of the work.
Cromer, who was not on the City Council at the time, believes at some point the city became ineligible for the federal funds that it had used for streetscape work in the square.
“It’s been a long-time coming,” says Fiore Foster, another resident, adding “they have to fix that drainage because it floods.”
Darolyn Augusta has refused to sit by silently. She’s led the charge for the city to find the money to complete the work. She’s dealt with staff turnover and has met with two city managers and two mayors since she and her husband, Christopher moved to the area in 2019 from New York. They attended countless city meetings and met with City Council members individually. To her, it seemed as if there was a breakdown in communication at City Hall.
“They call me the squeaky wheel,” Augusta said.
Now that the wheel might finally get some grease, Augusta is “cautiously optimistic.” While it’s taken too long for the city to act, Christopher Augusta adds, he’s hoping that “today is a new story.”
The city plans to look at a bigger stretch of Duke Street — from Bladen Street to Ribaut Road — beyond the stretch passing MidTown Square.
A Band-Aid won’t necessarily fix the drainage issues, said Neal Pugliese, who handles capital projects for the city. That’s why he’s recommending that the larger area be studied.
The city needs to look at the underground drainage and other utility issues affecting the larger area before investing in the above-ground work on the 1600 block of Duke, he said.
“We won’t know the full diagnosis until the engineers get in there and start working on the science and the math,” Pugliese said.
The preliminary costs of an engineering study would be $400,000. Construction could total $2 million, but that will depend on the results of the study. Pugliese says those estimates are very rough.
Here’s the other “emerging” capital projects the city plans to prioritize in 2024:
▪ Battery Shores drainage: The main discharge provides drainage for more than 50 percent of the properties in the Battery Shores subdivision. Stormwater can’t escape the system and is backing up and flooding back yards, the city says. The estimated cost of engineering is $20,000 to $30,000. The cost of the work would be $100,000 to $150,000.
▪ Pigeon Point boat landing: The deteriorating single-launch, floating dock has seen major repairs over the past five years. It’s an integral public amenity in the Pigeon Point neighborhood, where people watch wildlife and launch boats into the Beaufort River. It will cost $200,000 to $250,000 to replace it. Improvements to the parking area and the ramp would cost more if the city decides to go that route. Coming up with a master plan for the entire project would be $80,000. The issue before the city, Marshall said, is whether to replace the dock only or pursue a bigger plan that includes new parking and a ramp. “Do you want a Pinto,” Marshall said, “or do you want a Cadillac?”
▪ First South Carolina Volunteer Park: Benches and a walkway are proposed in the Beaufort County-owned park on the south side of Boundary Street. It is named after one of the first Black regiments of the Union Army. The cost would be $20,000 to $30,000. The city is considering asking the public’s help to secure the funding.
▪ Pigeon Point playground: Replacing the popular playground at Pigeon Point Park at an estimated cost of $400,000 to $500,000. There have been cases of kids getting splinters while using the slide, which has prompted lawsuits, Cromer said.
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 1:15 PM.
