EdR, a housing development company, has announced its decision to forego building a housing facility on south Main Street. It was determined last week that after two months of discussion with leaders from the city of Columbia and the University of South Carolina, there was no way to make the project work
Executive Director of My Carolina Alumni Association Jack Claypoole said the building was not a good fit for the area near campus.
“(The building) in its initial design missed the mark for complementing the rich history of our campus and surrounding community,” Claypoole said.
When EdR, the national student housing developer from Memphis, announced its plans to build a 15-story student housing tower on the corner of Main and College streets, My Carolina Alumni Association launched a petition and social media campaign called ‘Save Our Horseshoe’ in protest of the plan.
“As alumni, we are grateful to EdR’s leadership for taking the time to work with our university and community in better understanding the concerns voiced by thousands of Gamecocks,” Claypoole said.
After investigating a variety of options and researching how to reduce the height of the building by expanding the footprint onto land adjacent to the location, EdR chose to terminate their agreement to purchase the property, according to a press release sent to The Daily Gamecock.
While many students supported this building and believed the shadow would have in no way affected the Horseshoe, many students, like second-year marketing student Krissy Greer, were glad to hear the possible threat of a shadow over the historic Horseshoe is gone.
“I'm definitely a supporter of this decision as it means the Horseshoe will not change or be negatively impacted. I purposefully choose a route that takes me through the Horseshoe to get to my classes every day, and it just wouldn't be the same if there was a giant grey building towering over the end of it,” Greer said.
Shadow studies were done by both the developer and the university with conflicting results — the study from EdR showed a limited shadow impact on the Horseshoe, while the study from the university showed at least half of the Horseshoe covered by the building's shadow.
My Carolina indebts this positive outcome to the 30,000 alumni and friends of the university who visited the website and signed their petition.
“Our historic Horseshoe is the heart of the University of South Carolina, and we are grateful to EdR for recognizing its significance to each of us who call this great institution our alma mater,” Claypoole said.