Lower Richland community worries about Kensington Mansion’s future
Buoyed by International Paper’s announced plans to repair Kensington Mansion, organizers of a community meeting about the historic structure Monday night can focus on the future rather than the present.
The paper company, which owns the 19th-century mansion and surrounding property next to its Wateree River plant, had allowed water leaks to damage the structure in recent years. After advocates publicized the situation in recent weeks, International Paper on Wednesday declared it would make the repairs.
“I am jumping for joy that the mansion will not be allowed to fall into further disrepair,” said Rickie Good, director of the Scarborough-Hamer Foundation, which for years ran tours of the building.
Rather than prompt the cancellation of Monday’s 6 p.m. meeting at the Richland Library branch at 1301 Main St. in Eastover, the announcement simply changed the focus.
“The next goal is to understand a timeline for repairs, and to understand what their plans are for future use of the site,” said Robin Waites, executive director of Historic Columbia and one of the leaders of the Save Kensington group. It’s important to make sure the company’s response “is not just lip service to the current uproar.”
International Paper appears to appreciate those concerns. The company’s spokesman, Tom Ryan, said “please don’t mistake any pause in communication from the company as a lack of action. We have been vested in this house for decades, and we take very seriously our unique relationship with Kensington.”
The company plans to take some time, seek input from the community and make its plans clear once decisions are made, according to Ryan. Company officials earlier had estimated that restoring the intricate plaster molding could push the repair costs to $750,000.
After the repairs, there are several possible scenarios, preservation advocates said. The building could be sold to a local government and operated by a nonprofit, similar to the setup for Historic Columbia and several structures in Columbia. International Paper could operate tours itself. Or the site could be turned over to the National Park Service and operated as an addition to neighboring Congaree National Park.
“When they open it to the public, they get good support and good revenue,” said Kit Smith, a former Richland County Council member and a preservation advocate.
The commotion over the condition of the building built slowly, as International Paper avoided repairing roof leaks for several years, according to volunteers who helped run tours of the facility. The tours were stopped after the February 2014 snow and ice storm damaged many trees on the property and exacerbated the roof leaks.
Late in 2014, the company dissolved its longstanding partnership with the Scarborough-Hamer Foundation, which also provided the period furnishings in the mansion. International Paper recently agreed to provide $100,000 to help move and store the thousands of items – from silverware to large furniture – in that collection.
Built in 1854, the mansion was the centerpiece of the Singleton family’s Headquarters Plantation. Matthew Richard Singleton, who had spent time in Europe, asked architects Edward Jones and Francis Lee to design a home in the Italianate Revival style.
The symmetrical 12,000-square-foot home features four large bedrooms or sitting rooms on the main floor radiating out from a square entry hall. Looking up in the hallway takes your breath away, with ornate cast-iron railings and a skylight in the domed metal roof. The long dining room at the back of the first floor resembles a small ballroom with a domed ceiling.
The fine touches throughout – the molding, magnificent cornices, vaulted ceilings – hint at the Singletons’ wealth. The extended family owned several large plantations in the Midlands. The remaining structures on the property also include a kitchen house and a slave dwelling, one of the few of those intact in the Midlands. Preservation of the slave dwelling is high on the wish list of many locals.
The property changed hands several times in the 1900s. The mansion was being used for storage of farm machinery when Union Camp, which later was acquired by International Paper, bought the land for its paper mill in 1981.
The company spent nearly $1 million to renovate the mansion. It was opened for periodic tours in 1984, and the tours became more regular when the company partnered with the Scarborough-Hamer Foundation in 1996. Since then, the mansion has been a tourism stalwart in the area. On its website, International Paper uses the management of the mansion as an example of the company’s community service, and the company earned a state preservation award in 2006 for that work.
Advocates said it’s unclear when or why the company seemed to have a change in attitude about the mansion. They hope last week’s announcement is a sign of an about-face.
Smith and others suggested International Paper has a legal responsibility to maintain the mansion. The original renovations were part of a deal that allowed Union Camp to pull water from the Wateree River for its manufacturing process. That deal called for the preservation of the mansion, which advocates see as not a one-time commitment but a perpetual one.
Also, the company is obligated to support the community because of the millions of dollars in tax breaks it has received, Smith and fellow former County Council member Bernice Scott said. Union Camp was the first company to take advantage of what’s called fee-in-lieu of tax benefits. With those and other breaks, the company will save nearly $100 million in taxes from 1991 to 2040, Smith said.
International Paper executives have been invited to Monday night’s meeting, but organizers have been given no indication whether company officials will attend.
This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Lower Richland community worries about Kensington Mansion’s future."