Tearing down the past

121-year-old house on East Cambridge gets demolished

March 21, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

Much has taken place during the last 121 years.
Two world wars have been fought, not to mention the Korean War, Vietnam and two conflicts in Iraq. Presidents have been elected, re-elected, impeached and even assassinated. Sweeping social changes have taken place, such as the end of segregation.
Yet, in that entire 121-year period, from 1886 until 2007, a house has stood at 442 E. Cambridge Ave. in Greenwood. That came to an end on Tuesday morning.
The large white home, owned by Thomas Firriolo, was constructed in 1886 and torn down Tuesday as Firriolo decides what he wants to do with it and another property he owns adjacent to it, at 446 E. Cambridge Ave. Together, there are about 2 1/2 acres on the properties.
Firriolo’s attorney, Abbeville’s Heather Stone, said Firriolo’s now-demolished house was not structurally sound. “Yes, an engineer has informed us that the building was not structurally sound,” Stone said. “We have a letter from an engineer documenting that.”
According to Stone, Firriolo did have plans to bring the building up to code. In fact, he wanted to open a restaurant in the building. Stone said the restaurant was going to be called Five Flags Over Greenwood.
“I have seen the plans and drawings for the restaurant,” Stone said. “It would have been a beautiful place.”
However, Firriolo was not able to get the proper zoning from the city of Greenwood to open a restaurant there. The property is zoned residential, and Firriolo sought to have it changed to office-professional-institutional.
Stone said Firriolo approached city council last fall, requesting a change in the zoning. The council denied the requested zoning change.
City manager Steven Brown said there were some concerned neighbors from the East Cambridge area who approached council at the time. He said they did not want to see the property become commercial and wanted to keep their area as residential as possible.
Firriolo approached city council once again Monday night, asking members to reconsider his request for rezoning the property at 446 E. Cambridge Ave. from residential to OPI. Stone said Firriolo wants to rehabilitate that property and make it into a reception/banquet hall-type facility.
Mayor Floyd Nicholson told Firriolo and Stone that the council would consider the issue at its next work session. Once council has denied a zoning request, it normally has to wait two years before reconsidering it, unless a council member makes a motion to reconsider it and that motion passes.
Nicholson reiterated that the issue would be discussed further.
“We will need to get with Phil Lindler, of the planning commission, and look at the proposal,” Nicholson said. “If it meets the requirements, we may bring it back up.”
Stone said she thinks the reception hall would be a welcome addition to that neighborhood.
“Mr. Firriolo has big plans for that facility, if he can get the zoning he needs,” Stone said. “There will be beautiful gardens, almost like a park area. He has already begun cleaning off the lot. It would be a wonderful place for receptions and events like that.”
Firriolo also has a plan in place if the zoning request is not reconsidered. On Monday, Stone presented city council a blueprint of an apartment complex Firriolo says he will build if the property must stay zoned residential. However, Stone said Firriolo does not want to go that route.
“Mr. Firriolo loves historical things,” Stone said. “He does not want to see these properties torn down. However, he has invested a lot of money into them and he wants to do something productive with them. An apartment complex would be productive, and if it stays zoned residential, he has the right to do that.”
Renee Snell said she went through a very similar experience regarding a house she has on East Cambridge, right across from Firriolo’s properties. Snell and her husband had a contract to sell the house, contingent on getting the zoning changed from residential to OPI so the next owners could operate a bed and breakfast there. City council denied that request in the fall of 2006, despite being unanimously approved by the city zoning board.
According to minutes from the Sept. 18, 2006, council meeting, Greenwood residents Shirley Cunningham, Shelia Tolbert and Laura Woodall spoke in opposition to Firriolo’s rezoning request, and a motion was made by council member Betty Boles to deny it. Council member Barbara Turnburke seconded the motion.
Meanwhile, Snell’s request for rezoning was denied that same evening, as Woodall, Cunningham and Tolbert also spoke in opposition to his request. Council member Linda Edwards made a motion to deny it, and Boles seconded that motion.
Snell said she and her husband’s request was denied because of concerns that traffic might increase on the street. Todd Snell didn’t agree.
“If you are familiar with a bed and breakfast, it is not going to bring much traffic,” Todd said. “This one would have had four bedrooms, so at most it would have brought in four additional cars.”
Renee Snell said she would not have minded if Firriolo had opened a restaurant in the now-demolished white house.
“It would have been better than looking at decaying properties,” she said. “And it would certainly be better than looking at an apartment complex.”
Though Firriolo’s house at 442 E. Cambridge Ave. was more than a century old, it had not been deemed historic in any way. Assistant city manager Charlie Barrineau said there is only one historic district in Greenwood — the Emerald Triangle in Uptown Greenwood. That area, which contains The Museum, the Greenwood Community Theatre and the Federal Building, was zoned historic earlier this year.
Barrineau did say some individual properties around Greenwood have been zoned historic.
East Cambridge resident Clarissa Blackmore said she was appalled to see the house torn down Tuesday.
“It just killed me to see the house torn down,” Blackmore said. “I’m more upset at the city officials that let this happen than I am (at Firriolo). The restaurant he had planned might not have been what we all wanted, but it is certainly a better solution than tearing it down, or putting up tacky apartments.”
Blackmore added she would like to see some type of historic district established in Greenwood.
For his part, Firriolo is optimistic that he might get to open his reception hall.
“As hope always springs eternal, may our city be guided in making the right choices,” Firriolo said, through a statement released by Stone.

Obituaries

Emma Dickerson

ABBEVILLE — Emma Busby Dickerson, 81, formerly of Abbeville, SC, known by many in Abbeville as “Granny”, widow of Warren Dickerson, died Monday, March 19, 2007, at the home of her daughter Dee Bloch in Atlanta, GA.
Born in Anderson, SC, she was a daughter of the late James and Ida Smith Busby.
She was twice married, first to the late Sterling T. Browning.
She was a retired textile employee with J.P. Stevens Mills, and after retirement she became employed with the Winn Dixie Grocery store in the Deli department. She was of the Baptist faith.
Survivors are: 1 daughter, Dee-Browning Bloch of Atlanta, GA; 2 sisters, Novella McCurry and Lula Smith, both of Abbeville, SC; 7 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and 8 great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services honoring the life of Mrs. Dickerson will be conducted Thursday, March 22, 2007, at 3:30 p.m. from The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, with the Rev. Randy Taylor officiating. The burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
The body is at The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends from 6 until 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorials be made to in memory of Ms. Dickerson to MD Anderson Cancer Center, c/o University of Texas, PO Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210-4486 or by logging onto giving@mdanderson.org.
Online condolences may be made to the Dickerson family by visiting www.chandlerjacksonfh.com.
The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, Abbeville, SC, is in charge of arrangements.

Rev. Dr. Robert Gaston Hall

DUE WEST — Rev. Dr. Robert Gaston Hall, 81, resident of 14 Abbeville St. Due West, SC, very beloved husband of Helen Brown Hall, died Monday, March 19, 2007, at the Hospice of the Piedmont, Hospice House in Greenwood, SC, after a lengthy illness.
Born in Westminster, SC, he was a son of the late Dr. Thomas Gaston and Sally Rion Jones Hall. After graduating from the local high school, he attended Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, VA, and received his Ph.D. from Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, Scotland. He attended the U.S. Army’s Chaplain School at Carlisle Barracks, PA.
He was a Presbyterian PCUSA minister and served churches in Greenville, SC, Red Springs, NC, and the First Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL. He was a chaplain during the Korean Conflict, attaining the rank of Captain. He served as a Professor of Preaching and Worship from Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, SC.
He served his community as a member of the Rotary Club, the Due West Lions Club as a charter member and second President. He served on various recreational commissions as well as the Red Cross Blood Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors, Western Foothills United Way, Anderson, SC. He worked with the Habitat for Humanity and served the Boy Scouts Organization in various capacities. All three of his sons became Eagle Scouts.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Helen Brown Hall of the home; 3 sons, Robert G. Hall, II and his wife, Carolyn of Muncie, IN, George R. Hall and his wife, Margaret of Augusta, GA, and Philip D. Hall and his wife, Rayna of Charleston, SC; grandchildren, Thomas Wade Hall, Lauren Elizabeth Hall, David Watkins Hall and Brandon Christopher Hall; 1 sister, Louisa Hall West and her husband, Richard of Toms River, NJ.
A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 22, 2007, from the Bowie Memorial Chapel of Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, SC, with Rev. Dr. Thomas Dendy, Rev. Dr. Randle Ruble, Rev. Calvin Draffin and Rev. Dr. Sue Arledge officiating. A private family committal service will be held prior to services.
The body is at The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, where the family will receive friends from 5 until 6 p.m. Wednesday evening. The family is at the home, 14 Abbeville St. Due West, SC.
In lieu of flowers, please send memorial contributions to the Robert G. Hall Scholarship, Erskine Theological Seminary, PO Box 668, Due West, SC 29639 or the Robert G. Hall Scholarship, Presbyterian College, 503 South Broad St., Clinton, SC 29325.
Online condolences may be sent to the Hall family by visiting www.chandlerjacksonfh.com.
The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home, Abbeville, SC, is in charge of arrangements.

Joe Lewis Rodgers

ATHENS, Ga. — Mr. Joe Lewis Rodgers, age 65, of 170 Stephenon Ct., Athens, died March 16, 2007 at Athens Regional Medical Center. He was born in McCormick County, SC, and was the son of the late Ada Rodgers. He attended school in McCormick County and was a retired construction employee.
Surviving are a son, Randy Reid of Columbia, SC; two sisters, Queen R. Wakefield of Mt. Carmel, SC, and Evelyn Rogers of Greenwood, SC.
Service will be Thursday, March 22, 2007, at 2 p.m. at Spring Grove Baptist Church in Mt. Carmel, SC, with Rev. Roy Andrews officiating. The family is at the home of a sister Queen Wakefield, 130 Ike Road, Mt. Carmel, SC. Brown and Walker Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Opinion

No Child Left Behind Act needs changing, ‘leveling’

March 21, 2007

Ever since the No Child Left Behind Act was put into effect there has been dissatisfaction noted one way or another.
Now some Democrats and Republicans are seeking to “reform” the NCLBA.
Democrats are demanding changes. Some Republicans, including South Carolina’s Senator Jim DeMint, want to make it more flexible for states and schools. DeMint said, “Parents are expressing real outrage and frustration across the nation.
While the No Child Left Behind (Act) measures and confirms the failure of public schools, it is not doing enough to improve them. Schools should be accountable to parents and students, not to a federal bureaucracy,” he said.

THE MEASURE HE AND OTHERS have introduced in Congress, called A-PLUS (Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act), would give states flexibility to consolidate federal education programs and funding and redirect their resources to state education reform initiatives. Currently, the Department of Education forces states to use federal education funds on specific programs, an approach that has shown little success, DeMint says. In exchange for the flexibility A-PLUS provides, states would be required to be transparent about academic results.
Senator John Cornyn, R-Texas, is one of the A-PLUS cosponsors. What he says reinforces DeMint’s position. “We must move education decision-making out of Washington closer to where it belongs -- with parents and teachers,” Cornyn says.
“States should be given the flexibility to design educational programs that fit the local needs of individual districts, parents and children.

“THIS BILL WILL REDUCE THE bureaucratic red tape that often stands in the way of results, accountability and superior schools.”
That ought to appeal to everyone involved. But, it also should include changes for some special education students ..... particularly to facilitate separating those with real special needs from some who are put in special ed classes by default. Learning differs for some. Allow for teaching/learning differences. Allow special testing based on special needs.
Changes or flexibility, it seems obvious something is needed and it’s at least encouraging to see both Republican and Democratic lawmakers searching for ways to improve. Now they should act.
One thing should be paramount, though, no matter what is done, if anything, to NCLB. Every effort must be made to make sure that education standards are not compromised or pushed backward. That has happened too many times in public education, and not only students and the public education system in general have paid a terrible price for it, so has the nation.