Columbia’s riverfront park dreams get big boost as landowner plans to donate coveted property
For decades, Columbia leaders have dreamed of better access for one of the city’s most prized amenities, the Congaree River. Now, the city is about to acquire a vital piece of land that could make those dreams reality.
John Gabriel Guignard laid out Columbia’s original street grid over 200 years ago. His son James Sanders Guignard founded the Guignard Brick Works, on the Cayce side of the river. The Guignard family also controls a stretch of property along the Congaree River on the Columbia side. Now, the family will donate 7.5 acres of that property between Blossom and Gervais streets to Columbia with hopes that the land will eventually become a riverfront park, according to city documents.
Columbia City Council approved a resolution accepting the donation during a meeting Tuesday.
The idea for a sprawling public park with an amphitheater and boardwalks, an ornate fountain and easy river access for a variety of recreational activities, as well as room for shops, restaurants and apartments along the bank of the Congaree River were first introduced in the early 1990s and then solidified as part of a master plan commissioned by the University of South Carolina.
The Guignard property was a major part of that vision. Accessing the property will also require the construction of a new portion of Williams Street, between Blossom and Gervais streets.
In 2012, Richland County voters approved $50 million in transportation penny sales tax money for projects that would finally provide access to the Congaree. The now-finished Greene Street Bridge and the soon to begin Williams Street connector were meant to be paid for with those dollars, but as construction costs have risen, the penny tax money wasn’t able to cover all of the Williams Street project.
The city had applied three times for federal dollars to make up the difference but was never awarded the money. After the final rejection last fall, Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said he wanted to stop relying on federal dollars and ask private landowners to pay for some of the project, while also leveraging existing state funds.
State lawmakers have allocated $9 million to supplement the remaining penny tax dollars.
Columbia City Councilman Howard Duvall said the city now has the funds and the access to complete the Williams Street connection. A timeline hasn’t been set for that work.
The would-be park is the next step, but details, including funding, haven’t even begun to be set for that work.
“This gives us the access, and now we have to work on the details,” Duvall said, adding that it’s exciting to be moving forward with a goal the city has had for years.
This story was originally published March 21, 2023 at 12:18 PM.
