All these years later, West Ashley’s Sumar Street is still a ghost town — but slightly less ghastly.
City crews recently cleaned up the site of the former Piggly Wiggly, even pruned the trees … which actually improved visibility at the treacherous suicide merge of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard and Old Towne Road.
Charleston City Councilman William Tinkler asked the mayor’s office and Parks Department to spruce up the place in hopes of some near-term use. You know, maybe bring in food trucks on a pretty day, or at least make the place look nicer.
Because he knows whatever eventually happens there, it’s going to be a while.
But maybe not a long while.
As Ali Rockett reports, Mayor William Cogswell and the owners of the Ashley Landing shopping center next door are negotiating a redevelopment of the city’s 3-acre parcel alongside ambitious plans for the larger shopping center.
Cogswell recently told West Ashley and James Island business owners he wants the gateway to become home to a park with civic space, a restaurant and workforce housing — for teachers, cops and firefighters. Like that.
West Ashley City Council members are on board with that idea, which is important. Last year, a narrowly divided council shot down earlier plans for the property.
This time, most council members expect their biggest hurdle will be selling the specifics to nearby neighborhoods. That’s not a knock on Northbridge and Orange Grove, but these are the folks who for years demanded the county fix the suicide merge — and then rejected every proposed improvement.
For two years, no one agreed on anything (especially a roundabout). The county finally gave up.
Anything governments propose these days is bound to meet with some dissension. Often, a vocal minority shuts down the best-laid plans. But City Council members say not this time. The dead Pig site has languished long enough.
After delays caused by the suicide merge debate, COVID and, well, politics, this thing is back on track. And not so different than before — just bigger and with a greater emphasis on the “mix” of mixed-use development.
