 |
| ||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
History of the Josiah Smith Tennent House The Josiah Smith Tennent House is significant for historical and architectural reasons because, given its Hampstead locale, construction and ownership by prominent Charleston families, it has provided the backdrop for many scenes from the life of the community. In its innovative design and construction, it stands out as a landmark against the skyline. Numbered as 729 East Bay, it is located in the northeastern corner of Hampstead Village, a suburb laid out in 1789 by Henry Laurens on his lands north of Wraggborough. Bounded on the east by a busy highway and the staging area of the State Ports Authority, the mansion formerly stood on high ground closely overlooking marshes and Town Creek, a branch of the Cooper River. As late as 1890, oral tradition referred to this part of the river bank as Half Moon Battery, an allusion to one of the small forts thrown up as defense against the British during the Revolution and to the earthworks and cannon mounted at this spot during the Confederate War. Early maps confirm this tradition. Since 1827, Hampstead Village was favored by Georgetown rice planters for its spacious, airy Charleston residencies. In 1855, Dr. John Hyme Tucker (1870-1859) of Litchfield, on of "the grand old men" of the Georgetown District who had prospered mightily with its rice culture, conveyed lots adjacent to his own house to trustees for the use of his daughter, Mary Ramsay Tennent, and son-in-law, Josiah Smith Tennent (1817-1864). Son of Charles Tennent, rice planter and brick-maker at Parmassus on Back River, Josiah came of families distinguished from colonial times in New Jersey and South Carolina. In 1851, he was living with an older brother, William, a "brick-burner" in Ansonborough and working as bookkeeper at the Planters; and Mechanics' Bank. in 1858, three years after his marriage, he was identified as "brick-factor," thus returning to the interest in brick that came into the family with Parnassus. Josiah Smith Tennent first appears as a taxpayer on the list of 1860. Therefore, the house was not completed until sometime in 1859. He paid 182 on real estate valued at $13,000. With the coming of the Confederate War, Josiah Tennent with his younger brother, Dr. Edward Tennent, joined the Sumter Guards. Mary Tennent and their five children took refuge at "The Barrows," a planter's summer community in St. John's Berkeley. In 1862, Josiah was promoted to Assistant Provost Marshal. During the the war, Edward was wounded. The house in Hampstead became a Confederate hospital, called Soldiers' Relief Home, and also served as an asylum for patients from the First North Carolina Hospital on Mary Street when it burned in January 1864. Letters show that the owners felt concern for the operations at the Josiah Tennent Smith House. There was mention of Mary Tennent Smith House. There was mention of Mary Tennent's weaving cloth and Josiah's "boiling salt" for the Negroes who were still at the place. About this time, the 47 year old warrior wrote: "Our cause must triumph and what more glorious death to die for all That is worth fighting for." In 1864, when the city was enjoying a respite from heavy fighting and when the Tennents were about to return to Charleston, Josiah died suddenly. Apparently, none of the Tennents returned to Hampstead. In 1874 a representative member of the increasingly populous and prosperous German community, Carsten Wulburn, bought the Josiah Tennent Smith House for $4,000. Wulburn's brother-in-law, Henry Bischoff, acquired the other property on the block, the Tucker House. With an Amherst Street neighbor, Wulburn conducted a wholesale business in groceries, liquor and tobacco on lower East Bay. In addition Carsten Wulburn took an active part in the new Lutheran Church, St. Matthews. he also held directorships on the city's financial institutions and served on select committees of city government. the Wulburns occupied the house as a residence until the earthquake of 1886 after which it needed serious repairs. With the coming of the Charleston Cotton Mills to Columbus Street, two blocks south of Blake Street, the neighborhood changed. Wulburn sold the house in 1889 to the mill to be used as offices. Thereafter the property changed hands many times until in 1950 the City purchased it and added a ware house at the southwest corner as a storage facility for the incinerator already on the site of the Tucker House. For a structure which has led as many lives as this one, the Josiah Smith Tennent House, completed in 1859, remains surprisingly intact. Due to the fact that its surroundings have undergone such a number of severe changes, what was once a handsome residence was, until recently, viewed as little more than 3,000 square feet of warehouse space. The very nature of its undesirable setting has perhaps saved the Tennent House. With its size, lofty ceilings and many windows allowing for cross ventilation, the Tennent House provided a handsome setting for comfortable, spacious family living. However, despite its size, design and careful craftsmanship, architecturally the house seemed to show, in style and effect, a scaling and battening down before the storm. If time had permitted, more embellishment might have followed. But either because of the exigencies of war, or a heritage of dissenter simplicity, the house never received the rich, elegant treatment of the interior characteristic of Charleston houses of a slightly earlier period. It is original in design, the proportions of the two rectangles are pleasing. The flying grace of the roof line, its "West Indian Slope," show imagination in conception and skill in construction. It this area, this design is unique. The brick walls, laid in a common American bond, exhibit little detail other than around the openings. The windows have simple sandstone lugsills and radiation voussoirs. Four brick chimneys exist, two on the north elevation at each wing and one each on the east and west elevation. All are on the perimeter of the building and are formed by the extension of the exterior wall, broken only by a plain box cornice and frieze, which extends around the entire building. The rather pronounced hip roof, with lower, attached, hip extensions over both the east and west wings, are in a style characterized as "West Indian Slope". The slate surface is in surprisingly good condition, as is the tile trim which appears at each ridge. The Josiah Tennent Smith House, as historical structure, is the focal of Charleston's upper East Side and plays an important role in the City's current plans to upgrade and revitalize this area. Today, this building reflects the decaying infra-structure of a once proud community and is now in need of physical, emotional, and spiritual attention and "LOVE". Elpis acquires Tennent House for Eastside Center In 1993 the city of Charleston agreed to convey to Elpis, Inc. (a division of Agape Ministries) property located at 727 Blake Street. The property consisted of the remains of the Josiah Smith Tennent Building and a smaller warehouse appendage building that had fallen into significant disrepair. Elpis immediately subdivided the property into two parcels. On the parcel which held the deteriorated warehouse, a new Center for Human Concerns was built. This is a multi-purpose building that has been used for numerous community service meetings and projects as well as a place for the Agape InnerCity Christian Assembly to hold services and Innovative Alternative for Education's Summer Leadership School/DayCamp to hold summer/fall sessions. The building was completed in December of 1995 and has been consistently used by various groups of the eastside community as a community meeting place. In 1996 the Board of Elpis began considering the renovation and restoration of the Josiah Smith Tennent building. The primary focus for this building was to expand the number of community oriented programs orchestrated by Agape on the eastside of Charleston. The restoration of the Josiah Smith Tennent building provides an important statement to the people living on the eastside, i.e., that the community of Charleston cares about their plight. It is also a symbol of a unique partnership of individuals both black and white, businesses local and regional, churches throughout the tri-county area as well as city, county and federal governments coming together to focus on the many problems plaguing the people living in the eastside Enterprise Renewal Community. The original estimate of the renovation of the Josiah Smith Tennent project was 2.4 million dollars. At that point, Elpis had raised just over 1 million dollars. A phased approach was developed. Phase I would focus on stabilizing the building. The monies for Phase I were contributed by the City of Charleston through their CBDG grant program, Enterprise Community Foundation, NationsBank, (now Bank of America) BI-LO, Archives and History and the Joanna Foundation. It is important to note that a majority of the monies contributed from the city of Charleston and Archives and History were only available provided Elpis, Inc. did a historic restoration of the Josiah Smith Tennent project. A historic restoration is more comprehensive and more expensive than a restoration, but without their funds Phase I would not have been possible. Phase I of the project was completed in December 1998. As with most projects of this magnitude dealing with a historic structure that had been allowed to fall into disrepair, the restoration met with significant unforeseen expenses. Two of the major expenses were a requirement to stabilize subsoil underneath the building as well as re-pointing the bricks on the exterior and interior of the building from the foundation to the roof. A third element of unusual expense was the requirement of the City of Charleston and Archives and History that Elpis put a new a slate roof rather than asbestos shingle roof on the building and rebuilding the original chimneys of the building. Phase II focuses on the installation of exterior windows, doors and the reconstruction of the original porticos and fenced yard of the Josiah Smith Tennent House . The original expectation was that Elpis would be able to accomplish this part of the project for 1.3 million dollars. Revised plans and specifications were sent to five prospective contractors who had indicated an interest in bidding on the project. Only two of the five submitted bid proposals. The other contractors indicated that they had more work than they could handle and that the complexities of a restoration versus simple new construction options available to them simply did not warrant their time and effort. The two bids received were in excess of $1,700,000. One of the two bids was from the contractor who had completed Phase I and the other form a local contract not quite as well versed in historic restoration type of construction. Elpis threw out both bids and asked both contractors to submit a list of options to reduce the cost of the project by at least $200,000. Both contractors submitted list of possible options that would reduce the cost of the project. Those options were submitted to the architect with a request that the plans and specifications be modified to incorporate those options that would save money without reducing the utility of the building. The architect has indicated that approximately half of the items listed as possible savings by the contractors could be incorporated into his plans. Additional savings would be identified as alternates that could be added at a future date. An example of an alternate would be the appendage connecting the Josiah Smith building to the Center for Human Concerns, a highly desire amenity but not critical to the operation of the Josiah Smith Tennent. Elpis anticipate that being able to secure a contract for Phase II of the Josiah Smith Tennent in the neighborhood of $1,500,000 to $1,600,000 to complete the shell. Other fundraising efforts are underway to raise monies to add all of the alternates back into the project as well as tenant up-fit for each of the four floors of the building. To date, $3,763,000 has been committed from the city of Charleston, private individuals and churches across the tri-county area. These funds, if collected on day one, would more than complete the project and payoff a $350,000 residual loan on the Center for Human Concerns Multi-purpose facility. Unfortunately, these commitments are based over a five and in some cases ten year pay-in period. This means that in addition to paying for the hard cost of construction and architectural fees, Elpis must also provide for construction interest which is considerable amount of money. To cover all if these costs, Elpis needs additional funds. Our fundraising campaign will continue until all of the monies are raised, i.e., about $800,000 The ground floor will serve not just as the foundation of the building, but also as the infrastructure for the future of the community. This will be the children's floor, a state-of-the-art child-care and parenting center. Providing comprehensive child care for forty children ages 0-3 years of age, the burden of child-care will be removed from the women participants as they learn employment skills. This floor is being funded in total through the kind generosity of Hugh McColl & Bank of America. The child development center will care for the children in a loving, caring environment and prepare the children for successful transition to school. Additional services provided on the floor will focus on enhancing the parenting skills of the primary caregiver involved in the program. The second floor will be the heart of the training services. Occupational skills training will focus on computer literacy skills and specific computer program, i.e., WordPerfect, Power Point, Excel, Microsoft Office, etc. The curriculum is being developed by banking, dental, medical, social psychological and business professionals, and will be taught by local education and professorial personnel. This floor is being funded in total through the kind generosity of Mr. Marshall Collins & Bilo Stores. The curriculum developed and taught by local businesses will include work ethics and skills essential to success in the job market. As men & women prepare for success in the employment arena, neat appearance will be required. The second floor will also house the cosmetology center where these types of personal services will be available. The third floor will house The Charleston Bar Association who will provide & coordinate pro bono legal services and a non-violence center, staffed by the City of Charleston's Chaplain, will provide non-violence counseling services. Inner city residents living in poverty often encounter legal problems. Legal assistance will also be available on the third floor, through volunteer legal professionals, to help the members of the community overcome life's difficulties. To complement the holistic (body, soul, & spirit) services provided to the participants, through ministerial professionals and volunteer certified family, drug and alcohol, and psychological personnel, spiritual advice of an ecumenical, sociological and psychological nature will also be available on the third floor. Use of these services will be optional and no particular denominational belief will be stressed. The fourth floor will house the dental services and will provide primary care for Enterprise Renewal Community un- and under-employed, non-insured, non-custodial fathers and their children; single head of house hold women and their children. This floor with will epitomize referral services to those participating dentists. Holistic health, with a major emphasis on life-style improvement will be the focus on this floor. The volunteer dental and medical personnel on this floor will include periodontal, orthodontic professionals as well as general practitioners. With the exception of one private dental professional in private practice, there is not a dental facility in the 7.3 square-mile Enterprise Community. The renovation of 27 Aiken Street in order to provide 2-3 bedroom rental units of affordable transitional housing for the low to moderate-income unfortunates who have been released from the detention center after the time they are participating in Project "Restore". The development of this property and properties like this one will assist many of the recently incarcerated will temporary affordable housing in a section of the city where rental property is scarce and expensive. Goals One of the goals of the project for which we are requesting funds is to provide safe emergency transitional housing for non-violent men recently released from the Charleston County Detention Center for non-payment of child support. The men will continue to receive supportive services such as case management, drug and alcohol counseling, life skills training and GED classes through Project "Restore". Specific Program Objectives: The specific program objectives are to provide a temporary safe haven for some of the participants in Project "Restore" while they are completing this three month job training and life skills program. The objectives of Project "Restore" are based on the following assumptions: (1) There is a high correlation between violent crime, drug and alcohol
abuse, teenage pregnancy, poverty, school drop out and father absence.
All of these indicators of social upheaval and the rate of father absence
are higher in the Enterprise Renewal Community than anywhere else in the
City or County indicating the critical nature of this problem in the communities
chosen for intervention. A program that will aid in the reunification
of some of these fathers in healthy relationships with their children
will ameliorate a portion of these negative statistics. To provide safe housing for non-violent men recently released from the Charleston County Detention Center for non-payment of child support. After the process is completed, the men will continue to receive supportive services such as case management, drug and alcohol counseling, life skills training and GED/Basic Instruction classes through Project "Restore" at Trident Technical College (Palmer Campus). Future Projects:
|
|||||||||||
|
ELPIS,
Inc. |
 |
