A couple of years ago, the newly renovated 1790's Charleston County Courthouse was being touted in the local press as the new jewel of the city's preservation efforts. A rare survivor, this one time "State House" also served as the seat of the Colonial Commons House of Assembly. The site and the building was considered so important it was argued that its renovation should become a new gold standard for retrofitting historic public spaces for the 21th century.
Previous renovations and modernizations had destroyed all but the perimeter walls and roof line of the original Courthouse. By the 1940's the unusual 18th century chimneys had been removed and Charlestonians apparently didn't miss them. The building was severely damaged during Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and lost most of its standing seam metal roof. For more than 10 years the important building was vacant awaiting a total and very expensive renovation. When it was finally completed a couple of years ago, much was said about returning to the original slate roof and the "restoration" of the original chimneys. These would be based on the original designs as seen in many 19th century photographs.
Whatever remained of the interior fabric was believed to have been lost during the 1940's renovations. As part of the total restoration, the entire interior of the Courthouse was gutted, floors, walls, roof and all, from the dirt footings to the sky. Any evidence of original walls and chimneys would be found only in the remaining brick footings, and much of these could no longer be found. Photographs provided some of the most solid evidence on how the exterior looked and guided estimates on how the interior was arranged.
Though the 1790's appearance was the goal, accomodations had to be made for including modern conveniences including elevators and water closets. It was also somewhat understandable that no functioning fireplaces were "restored" to the interior rooms. What might pass as chimneys were cleverly used as utility chases for air ducts serving the modern heating and cooling systems. It is doubtful that anyone would really want the building to outfitted with genuine wood burning fireplaces.
Despite some accomodations for change, one of its more obvious exterior details seems quite out of place, even cheap, as part of the $14 million renovation. Keep in mind that the Courthouse was described at the time as one of nation's more historically important public buildings. The problem is with the newly "restored" chimneys which are nothing more that stucco over plywood and aluminum framing bolted to the newly installed slate roof.
Go figure. We spend that much money on a "restoration" of such an important public building and they approve what in effect are four box kites as fake chimneys. I suspect these are just like those fiberglass steeples that are found on so many country churches in order to overcome years of steeple envy. Just like the fake steeples, these four masonry wanna-be's will become highly destructive missiles flying through the air the next time a category 2 or higher hurricane blows through town. The slate may survive the storm but survival of such flimsy chimney look-a-likes is highly unlikely. So why didn't they just do the real thing when they had the chance? A masonry utility chase makes far more sense than one framed in wood and wrapped in sheetrock. That would be good maintenance management decision.
The same reasoning might apply to the exterior chimney finish to each interior chase. The city's Board of Architectural Review is reportedly not fond of faux finishes. This would include fake chimneys fashioned from plywood, especially when applied to such an important and highly visible building located in the center of the historic district. Since this was a very high profile project and was planned and completed under the BAR's watchful eye all within the last 10 years, you have to wonder if anyone is really checking the details.
The first photograph comes from the collections of the Library of Congress and dates from the late 19th century showing the original masonry chimneys. The second photo is from a private collection. Taken in 2005 it shows the newly installed "box kite" faux chimneys from Broad St.
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Note that the building to the west of the Courthouse on Broad St. (a/k/a the Hebrew Benevolent Society Hall) had two tall chimney stacks that were damaged during Hugo. These were removed after 1989 without objection by the city's BAR staff. By contrast the fake chimney's on the Courthouse were installed to the praise of some "preservationists" about 10 years later. The same people appear to have not objected to the removal of real chimneys on an historically and architecturally important neighboring building. Such inconsistancies make it difficult for property owners to anticipate what standards the city is using at any given moment. Currently the public stewardship of the historic district appears to be arbitrary.
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