Century Park wins the 2007 Gaines Jontz Rehabilitation Award

During the 68th annual meeting of the Municipal Association of South Carolina in July in Charleston, Main Street S.C. presented Century Park in Hartsville the 2007 Gaines Jontz Rehabilitation Award.

The award is named for the late Gaines Jontz, a talented architect who inspired many communities during his tenure as design services manager for the Main Street S.C. and who passed away in 1994 in an airline accident.

The Gaines Jontz Rehabilitation Award recognizes excellence in total building rehabilitation. According to submission guidelines, the project must “demonstrate quality and appropriateness in design, materials and construction and a positive impact on the commercial district.” A strong preservation ethic must also be evident, said Judi Elvington, executive director of the Hartsville Downtown Development Association, which nominated the project for this award.

“The Century Park is one of the private investments where the owners caught the vision for what Hartsville should look like,” Elvington said.

Howard and Lynn Gainey are the owners, but it was their daughter, Mary, who had the vision as to what the building could be.
In her nomination, Elvington noted that the building was constructed in the late 1800s to house the McKinon and McNair Company department store, owned by M.S. McKinnon and A.M. McNair, brothers-in-law. The company enjoyed economic success in the first quarter of the 20th century. It led to the expansion of its inventory from cotton, seed and farming supplies to include separate departments for hardware groceries, cooking, furniture and men’s and women’s clothing, according to Elvington. The store’s motto was “Everything for Everybody”

The founders constructed an exceptional commercial structure in the town’s central business district; however, with competition from an even larger department store, (Coker’s) the company eventually closed its doors. In 1930, J. C. Penney came to town and took over the location “modernizing” the exterior.

The historical building remained in this state until 2003 when the Gaineys began research on the restoration of the building, Elvington said.

Failing to attain a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places due to “the absence of the original windows” and “not being located in a Historic District” was an educational process for the building owners, but they decided to try to maintain as much of the historical integrity of the building as possible. They developed a plan to take the building back to the design of its late 1800s heyday.

Stripping away years of plaster, re-pointing old bricks and removing tile to reveal the gorgeous wood flooring were a
few of the cost/value adding renovations, said Elvington. “The most poignant was the reclaiming of the tin façade,” she noted in her nomination for the award. “The pressed tin, imprinted with decorative designs, had deteriorated over the years. It was removed, numbered and restored.”

The building owners decided to call it Century Place because the renovations were taking place in the building’s 100 year.
Soon after the project’s completion, a New York-style spa opened for business. Century Park houses seven luxury condominiums offering housing opportunities for executives, young professionals and empty nesters, said Elvington.

This project has spurred other retail growth on the North Fifth Street corridor, said Elvington, encouraging the addition of a new upscale children’s clothing store with additional condominiums above it and a hospice, both adjacent to Century Park.
Flossie Mae’s was awarded the 2007 Main Street South Carolina Outstanding New Sign Award at the Municipal Association’s annual meeting. Outstanding New Sign recognizes excellence in signage design, craftsmanship, creativity and overall impact on the property.

Mary Ann Chapman came across a five-foot tall cut out of a lady while looking for antiques to decorate her new store. The cut out had wild pink hair, a green polka dot dress, flashy high heels, dangling diamond earrings and a feather boa around her neck, and she was also holding a blank sign. She purchased the lady and painted “You Look Fabulous” on her blank sign. “Miss Flossie Mae” became the inspiration for the exterior business signage as well.

After only one year in business, Chapman relocated her store to one three times as large and added a small spa.
Elvington said, “We applaud private citizens who work along with Hartsville Downtown Development Association to renovate and revitalize our downtown.

“In our 20-year history many downtown business and property owners have committed time and resources to the growth of downtown, making it as economically viable and visual inviting as it is today.”

Main Street South Carolina is a program offered through the Municipal Association of South Carolina to help citizens gain the knowledge, skills, tools and organizational structure needed to revitalize their downtowns, neighborhood commercial districts and cities or towns into vibrant centers of commerce and community.

Since the first awards were given in 1989, downtown Hartsville has won awards all but three years that nominations were submitted and most years multiple awards were won, including the first year when Jack Westmoreland received the Community Service Award; The Market Place was named Best New Construction, and SPC Cooperative Credit Union was named Best Development Project. Hartsville has had four business leaders/owners earn the Master Merchants Award, Two best promotions awards were given, one in 1982 for Hartscapades Auction and one in 2002/2003 for 2003 RenoFest Bluegrass Festival. Awards have also been received for Outstand Board, Outstanding Business Development, Community Builders Award of Recognition, Outstanding Public Improvement, Public Service Award, Best Board President, Best New Idea, Best Public Improvement, Best New Construction, Best Adaptive Use and others.