Projects underway to preserve, restore historic Charleston Naval Base buildings

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Expansive plans are underway to restore and revitalize the former Charleston Navy base.

While the project is set to bring homes, shops, a concert venue and more to the historic area, a Lowcountry preservation group has partnered with the development firm to make sure the area’s history lives on.

The project has been coined “Navy Yard Charleston,” and the real estate and investment company behind it, the Jamestown, plans to break ground this year.

Many of the buildings on the site will go through extensive renovations, and officials with Historic Charleston Foundation will be working with the developer to make sure the former naval base’s past is preserved.

The group is starting an archival effort to record the history of the base and its deep connections to the Charleston community.

They will also be documenting the significant preservation work being undertaken to preserve historic buildings on the base and serving as a resource for the ongoing development of the project.

“Whether it’s photographs or letters or any kind of archival information that people in the community may have, whether from themselves or parents or grandparents they know lived and worked on the base…any of that information we are extremely interested in gathering and pulling together into a single repository,” Historic Charleston Foundation CEO Winslow Hastie said.

Historic Charleston Foundation is asking the community to send-in any memorabilia of the old Navy base to them for this project. You can contribute by emailing hcf@historiccharleston.org

Meanwhile, the Jamestown said they also have plans for a neighborhood employment program to help stimulate economic growth. The jobs program will reserve project-specific positions for local residents who live within the neighborhood and include a training program.

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