Columbia’s not dropping ‘Front Porch’ idea for State House grounds

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin is banking that the governor will see the wisdom of the city’s plan to convert the State House lawn into a pleasant, periodic gathering place for South Carolinians.

“For too long our State House has been a place where people only come to protest,” a determined Benjamin said Thursday of push back from some state officials to a proposal that has a $195,000 private grant behind it.

“It can accommodate the Black Panthers from North Florida and the Ku Klux Klan from western North Carolina, but we can’t accommodate our own city which wants to have a family picnic on the State House grounds?” he said of the idea to re-imagine the State House as a “great public Front Porch.”

The state Department of Administration told Benjamin last month that it has concerns about liability and security issues, property maintenance as well as the “appropriate decorum” of the Capitol grounds.

Last week, Benjamin appealed directly to Gov. Henry McMaster, who the mayor said will make the final decision about allowing the Front Porch idea, backed by Knight Foundation grant money, to proceed.

“This is the governor’s call,” Benjamin said. “This is a positive opportunity. How is this not a great idea?”

As of Thursday afternoon, McMaster had not told Benjamin whether he will support the idea, which calls for using portions of the 16-acre site as “an active ‘central park’ for the state and community.”

Benjamin said the city tried for months to coordinate with state officials. But the grant application had to go forward.

The mayor envisions periodic events such as a movie night, a picnic, concerts – effectively a social hub on the grounds. “We’re talking about one day a week, maybe.”

The city has been building its response, including sending the city staffer who came up with the idea, planning administrator John Fellows, to a Knight Foundation conference. One of the conference topics on Monday, the day the grant was announced, was, “What to do when they say ‘no,’” Benjamin said.

“We’re planning to proceed,” he said of the proposal. “We’ll jump through the processes the Department of Administration has.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Columbia’s not dropping ‘Front Porch’ idea for State House grounds."