Revive Historic Aiken Hospital

03/21/2024

Hope to see you at Rypkema’s talk today, Thursday, March 21, at 1pm, at the CAAHAC.

Aiken Winter Colony participants, including William C. Whitney and Thomas Hitchcock, wanted and purchased craft objects and services from the Martha Schofield Normal & Industrial School during the American Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? But who else consciously chose Schofield Normal & Industrial School for their painting, cabinet making, cain seat making, basketry, furniture making, furniture repair, carpentry, and sewing needs? Today, where are these art and craft objects located and prominently displayed? There is work to be done.

05/05/2022

Update about historic Aiken Hospital. We hope Gumpert adaptively reuses the historic structures.

04/08/2022

The cell tower is gone!

02/28/2022

If you'd like to add your support to reclaim & update the Hotel Aiken & Johnson Drugstore instead of demolishing them, here is your chance to make your view known:
https://www.change.org/p/save-historic-johnson-drug-store-the-commercial-hotel-hotel-aiken-from-demolition?fbclid=IwAR1o0WRKNfcilwCMWpPHLN4-5laELVz2sAdnAFlWBwk-3z-HUDfGFfwobv8

01/18/2022

We hope Aiken County Council supports Richland Associates and sees the deal through to its end.

“Before the county's deal with Richland Associates is finalized, there are a "few hurdles to get over," Killian said.”

“He added that the incentive package for Richland Associates "might have to be restructured a little bit to make all the numbers work.””

Jan. 18—Aiken County Administrator Clay Killian described the growth in Aiken County as "pretty incredible" during a meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Aiken on Jan. 13 at The Willcox. He also provided some statistics to back up that statement. Killian said that county personnel conducted 2,009 buildi...

10/28/2021

We very much hope the new ETV tower is built and old tower removed prior to the 90-day extension.

https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/old-aiken-county-hospital-buyer-receives-90-day-extension-to-finalize-purchase/article_d138389e-35d8-11ec-9ccb-a305617a2988.html?tpcc=aikenfacebook&fbclid=IwAR2P7gfvf1OmPrOD-KaB3sDlycBLYCLMyJ-b73LMHubP-vVV9EkrZVf3RE8

09/25/2021

Thank you, Mayor Osbon. We agree.

“As we move forward, we want to do things in a similar manner, that protect the history of our downtown and of our city, but also move forward and be progressive,” Osbon said.

08/06/2021

Historians often use the term “colonial” to describe the period in South Carolina’s history when monoculture plantations dominated the landscape. However, in the health resort village of Aiken, South Carolina, the term references the decades before farms became plantations and slavery populations increased. During Reconstruction, a committee of prominent Aiken residents and visitors, many from the North drawn to Aiken’s nature, beauty, and health cures, advocated for a return to the diversified farming and handicraft economy of South Carolina’s “colonial times.” The committee printed and circulated booster literature that quoted the liberal, utilitarian economist and philosopher John Stuart Mill to lure to Aiken a settlement of “Northern Capitalists, Mechanics, and Farmers.”

08/06/2021

We’re speechless.

“Report: Cause of Old Hospital Fire Deemed “Intentional.””

https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/local-government/fire-at-old-aiken-county-hospital-still-under-investigation-but-report-describes-it-as-intentional/article_b14d39f4-f540-11eb-8d53-cb297b464c50.html

07/31/2021

From Charlotte Wiedenman,
Aiken, SC, South Carolina Preservation Board Member.

“I attended the SC Historic Preservation Awards Ceremony today. It was so inspiring to hear about these outstanding projects that preserve our state's architectural resources. I always look forward to Gov. McMaster's sharing his intense South Carolina pride.

I also learned at the presentation that the state preservation office had met earlier this morning. The Old Aiken Hospital and the original SCC&RR in Hitchcock Woods Foundation received state board level recommendation to the National Register of Historic Places.

One more hurdle to go! I'm looking forward to a bright new future for the old Aiken Hospital that includes adaptive reuse and preservation.”

https://www.facebook.com/1609788184/posts/10223162016791329/?d=n