The design of the mixed use building planned for downtown Aiken has been approved.
The Aiken Design Review Board voted 5-1 at a special-called meeting Thursday evening to approve the design of the building.
The building will be constructed on three vacant lots with addresses of 133 and 141 Newberry St. N.W. The third lot does not have an address.
The city of Aiken owns the properties and applied for design approval.
Cam Scott and Richard Fletcher of Cheatham Fletcher Scott, the architectural firm hired to design the building, represented the city during the meeting.
The city paid $752,230.23 to the Aiken Corporation to purchase the properties earlier this year.
The Aiken Corporation paid $650,000 to purchase the properties July 18, 2022, according to Aiken County property tax records.
The city plans to fund construction of the building using $20 million from the state's settlement with the Department of Energy over plutonium stored at the Savannah River Site, City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh said March 11.
The building will be a three-story, 36,000-square-foot building.
The Savannah River National Laboratory will lease the top two floor and use the space for offices for 75 to 100 people. The bottom floor will be a conference space. The design also shows space for USC Aiken on the bottom floor.
The exterior of the building will be brick, which is similar to St. Johns United Methodist Church across Newberry Street and the Meybohm building on the other side of the block.
There are also plans for a 39-space parking lot and a green space on the lot.
The parking lot will be shielded from the street by a wall and a monument sign. A 4- or 5-foot brick wall will be erected between the building and the Arbor Terrace town homes to prevent headlights from disturbing the residents in the town homes.
Jim Holly, the former board attorney brought back to assist the board with the building, added the zoning of the property — downtown business — does not require any parking.
Additional parking spaces are available along both sides of Newberry Street, one block South on Newberry Street, in two nearby city-owned lots and at the former Department of Public Safety headquarters on Laurens Street.
Board member McDonald Law made the motion to approve the design as submitted. He provided several examples of how the design complies with the city's design guidelines as he made his motion.
Board member Ahmad Mickell seconded Law's motion.
Chairwoman Faith Hawks voted against approval.
She said during a March 28 work session and Thursday evening that she was concerned with the building's "massing," i.e. how the building would appear on the street and relative to the surrounding buildings.
Though they voted in favor, the two newest members of the board, Barbara Morgan and Pat Corey, said they were concerned with the procedure used as the board considered the design.
Morgan said she wanted more information about how the project was planned and how the decisions were made to lead to the design presented to the board.
Holly said he didn't believe the process of how the design was created was under the board's purview.
The board is to consider the design and whether it meets the guidelines set forth, Holly said.
Corey said she wanted the public and the board to have more time to evaluate the design. She suggested postponing the vote until the board's June meeting.
Holly said the board has a 30-day timeline to consider applications and that he believed the application had been submitted around two weeks ago. He added the board had met the notice requirements set forth in the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
Six people addressed the board during public comment.
Historic Aiken Foundation President Linda Johnson, Luis Rinaldini, Jacob Ellis and Harrison Howell said they liked the design. Johnson, Ellis and Howell said they didn't like the plan for the monument sign.
Dianne Johnston said she liked the idea of the building because more downtown workers meant more support for small businesses.
Ann Kiser said she did not like the design. She said it was too massive for the location.
