Columbia building that was once home to landmark Main Street business demolished
The building that once housed the former South Carolina Bookstore — a University of South Carolina landmark since 1961 — has been torn down.
The bookstore at 801 Main St. permanently closed its doors Aug. 1, 2019.
The bookstore had been open under different management for decades, serving students at USC and others looking for Gamecock gear and souvenirs.
The store’s former manager, Follett Education, also manages a second bookstore in Columbia with a focus on Carolina students and alumni — Addam’s University Bookstore at 152 Assembly St., less than a mile away. Addam’s is further from the USC campus, but on a more heavily trafficked road.
In 2016, the USC Development Foundation acquired the building across from the university campus, a $1.1. million purchase the foundation described at the time as a “defensive” land buy of neighboring property.
Foundation director Jason Caskey said at the time the foundation had no immediate plans for what to do with the building, but said it is discussing future uses with the university.
USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said the foundation still has no specific plans for the property “other than to use it for parking for the near future.”
He added: “The building has been vacant for about one year and has extensive water leakage issues, so the Foundation concluded it was best to demolish the building.”
The building was built in 1930, according to Richland County records.
It is the second Gamecock landmark to disappear from the block.
The foundation also owns the former Sandy’s Famous Hot Dog restaurant at the corner College and south Main, which was remodeled into a Domino’s Pizza.
Sandy’s was an iconic eatery for University of South Carolina students from 1989 until the foundation agreed to buy the property in December 2016. The foundation is a private, tax-exempt organization that purchases and sells property for USC’s benefit.
The bookstore also was the second longtime business that dealt in USC-related gear to close in 2019. That spring, Jewelry Warehouse closed and went into a foreclosure sale, taking the Gamecock-gear specialists at Garnet and Black Traditions with them.