Events center and restaurants in St. Helena? After 8 years, Beaufort County unveils plan
Beaufort County initially proposed the idea of building a “cultural arts center” on culture-rich St. Helena Island in 2017 but the cogs of government have turned slowly since.
But on Thursday, eight years after the idea was first raised, Councilman York Glover finally delivered the first glimpse of the community center plan for the Sea Island community of 10,000 residents.
The county’s plan comes two years after developer Elvio Tropeano proposed his own community center, agreeing to finance it as part of a controversial golf course devolopment he was hoping to construct on Pine Island. This project remains in limbo as it is awaiting approval.
Did Tropeano’s community center proposal grease the wheels of county bureaucracy, as he suggests, or did he “comandeer” the idea to aid his golf course plans while the county did eight years of due dilegence, as one critic maintains?
Whatever the answer is, York and John O’Toole of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corp., which is working with the county on the project, provided the first public look at the “Gullah Geechee cultural center and village entrepreneurial market” at a meeting at the St. Helena Library Thursday that drew 70 residents.
An answer to why
“The why?” Glover said in explaining the project. “It’s simple, create and stimulate businesses in the community.”
Glover admitted there aren’t many details at this time and he brought visual aid to make his point, lifting a cloth and revealing the aritificial model of a small skeleton.
“What we want to do is add flesh, muscle, sinew, skin to this skeleton,” Glover said. “We want to create a concept for St. Helena Island.”
The mood in the room was generally supportive of the idea with a few questions sprinkled in about traffic, financing, purpose and how many additional years it would take to get the concept to construction. Glover said he would take the input and report back to the community in several weeks.
The 54,000-square foot facility, which would make it the largest indoor gathering space on St. Helena Island, would be a “vibrant central meeting place” and include a 10,000 square-foot multipurpose event and peforming arts center to host banquets, weddings, meetings and peformances; a 10,000-square foot open market for farmers and craft markets and fairs; and 34,000 square feet of retail businesses facing Polowana Road and Sea Island Parkway.
It’s being billed as a place where Gullah-Geechee culture and food could be both celebrated -- and monetized.
“We’re not making any money on shrimp and grits,” said Glover, noting restaurants in cities like New York are capitalizing on local dishes like that and St. Helena businesses could be, too.
Restaurants that showcase local food like gumbo and barbecue and red beans should be part of the retail mix, not chains like McDonald’s, Glover emphasized. He personally would like to see a coffee shop on the island, an opinion that drew immediate applause.
The answer to where
The 10 acres where the Gullah Geechee cultural center and village entrepreneurial market would be built falls at the corner of the intersection of Polowana Road (the road to Dataw Island) and Sea Island Parkway.
That happens to be directly across Sea Island Parkway from a “starter community center” called the 808 Community Hub that Tropeano, the golf developer, and his supporters opened two years ago.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Tropeano said later, when discussing the location of the county’s proposed community center across the street from his own.
Tropeano, who was seated in the third row at Glover’s meeting, is still seeking approval of the golf course and gated residential community called Pine Island. As part of that effort, Tropeano has said previously that he would provide land and $2.5 million for a community center on St. Helena.
“I do recognize this coming forward now may be seen as a response or solution to what has been offered by myself,” Tropeano said of the county plan. “But to me, all these things are one in the same. The point of my project is not solely to buiild a golf course.”
Tropeano called the county’s plan a “wonderful idea.” He even says he has land available for consideration if the BCEDC wants to consider another location. He says he has had “zero conversations with anyone on what was proposed last night,” but “would welcome the opportunity on how we could be involved and I think their is an alignment here.”
The idea of an arts center was first raised in 2017. The county approved funding for a feasibility study in 2019 and in 2022 hired a consulting firm to complete it.
That study said the island’s historical significance and strong Gullah Geechee culture are “undeniable strengths” and, in tandem with the wealth and tourism in the area, present opportunities for a successful arts and cultural center.
“However, decades of disinvestment in the St. Helena community, in tandem with the desire of many locals to maintain the Island’s rural character, means that many of the supporting amenities typically associated with successful arts centers – such as hotels, restaurants, and bars – are lacking,” the study says. “The island’s residents could benefit significantly from the economic development and community benefit potential of an arts-focused facility; the challenge is identifying the correct programming and orientation to fit the context.”
When an arts facility first was proposed in 2017, the BCEDC’s O’Toole said, it “didn’t have legs.” That’s why the consultant recommended a community and cultural events center, he said. The project, he said, has essentially morphed into a multi-purpose complex wrapped in small businesses.
“Everything we do is respectful of the natural environment,” O’Toole said of the project.
Enter the economic development leaders
In September 2024, The Beaufort County Council asked the BCEDC to take the lead in seeking funding for the project.
“This has been a long time planning to get us to this point,” Glover told the crowd at the meeting. After the meeting, Glover said the county’s proposal was not a response to Tropeano’s idea.
Jessie White, director of the South Coast Office of the Coastal Conservation League, which opposes Tropeano’s Pine Island golf course development, described the county’s community center plan as “an organic community-led initiative” that’s been in the works for years.
“Elvio (Tropeano) is trying to commandeer ideas already underway and present them as his own in order to make his golf course idea more appealing,” White said.
The BCEDC’s Toole says it has an agreement to buy the land but it depends on raising an additional $595,000. It already has received a $1 million grant from the South Carolina Deparment of Parks, Recreation and Tourism for the purchase, he said.
Additional costs or financing details aren’t known yet, said Glover, but he said the estimate for the peforming arts center alone is around $7 million. “We’re optimistic it will get funded,” he said.
O’Toole says private investors and philantropic groups are interested in investing.
Marque Fireall, who lives on Eddings Point, said he supports Glover’s plan because it will allow local residents to earn money from the land on St. Helena while giving residents space for large events like large weddings or special events such as the NAACP coming to town to speak.
“You’re able to make money and celebrate the culture at the same time,” Fireall said.
James Smalls says the plan looks pretty good, but he owns land near the proposed site and needs more information about the potential impacts before he’ll support it. “How will it affect my family?” he said.
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