DATE:    9/26/96
CONTACT: Gerry Dukes, (803) 563-3441 
WRITER:  Bill Baker,  (864) 656-3875

EDITOR'S NOTE: Photos are available upon request.

Calhoun Street Project 
Will Teach Sustainable Practices

     CHARLESTON -- The little house at 113 Calhoun Street has
been through a lot. It's scarred exterior and boarded-up windows
tell a compelling story.  
     Nestled in a historic neighborhood in downtown Charleston,
the modest wood-frame home survived the Great Charleston
Earthquake of 1886, still the most severe quake ever recorded
east of the Mississippi. One hundred years later, it survived the
wrath of Hurricane Hugo. In between those two cataclysmic events,
it survived countless lesser storms, many periods of flooding,
and at least one fire.
     That record of endurance makes it the perfect location for a
center showcasing the concept of sustainable development,
according to Extension Agent Chip Boling.
      "There are a lot of things this house has withstood,"
Boling says, noting that the house doesn't even have the bracing
bars and screws that were installed in many other buildings to
stabilize them after the 1886 quake. Indeed, much of the house is
still held together by the original wooden pegs with which it was
built.
     Boling is one of the organizers of a joint effort among
Clemson Extension, the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium and the City of
Charleston to renovate the house, which is more than 125 years
old. The three groups have formed the 113 Calhoun Street
Foundation, which owns the house and will manage and raise funds
for the project.
     The day-to-day project management is being handled by
Boling, Bob Bacon, director of the S.C. Sea Grant Extension
Program, and West McAdams of the Sea Grant Extension Program. 
     The plan is to transform the house into a Community
Sustainability Center that will showcase sustainable practices in
a variety of areas including home construction and renovation,
urban gardening, and the conservation of water and other natural
resources. The center will also extend the sustainable concept to
community and social concerns through educational events
addressing issues such as neighborhood leadership development.
     Cluster Director Gerry Dukes said the idea for the 113
Calhoun Street Project began with a conversation she had with
John Kelly, who now serves as Clemson's interim vice president
for public service and agriculture.
     "I had looked around Charleston at how Clemson Extension
could have a stronger presence," she recalled. "I was able to
meet with John and he and I developed a concept together."
     Dukes, along with Kelly and Director of Development James
Hansen, then approached Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, whose support
led the city to deed the house to the 113 Calhoun Foundation.
     "In a city which regularly confronts the issues associated
with urban aggression, it is important to provide affordable,
viable models of alternative approaches to urban hazards," Riley
said. "Utilizing the resources of the land grant system, Clemson
Extension is providing the necessary expertise to accomplish this
goal."
     By keeping a keen eye on the bottom line as well as the
environmental impact of every design decision, the Community
Sustainability Center will be a model for architects, engineers,
designers, contractors and, most important, the public, said
Dukes, who also serves as president of the 113 Calhoun Street
Foundation. 
     "The building will focus on the use of technologies and
materials which are suited to the climate, environmentally
appropriate, and engineered to withstand wind, water and seismic
forces," she said. "The house will achieve this by integrating
design principles, technologies and products in a manner that is
both cost-effective and replicable."
     An important aspect of the project is to come up with
sustainable solutions at various cost levels, so low-income
homeowners can benefit as well as those with more resources, said
Margaret Davidson, director of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center.
Davidson is on leave from her position as executive director of
the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, and has also been involved in
planning for 113 Calhoun Street.
     The overall design will create a house that is
user-friendly, with cutaways and exposed areas showing the
improvements made in the interest of sustainability.
     For example, wind hazard construction will be demonstrated
using plexiglass to display proper stud placement in crucial
stress points. Plumbing will be visible in strategic areas to
demonstrate the best choices for material and installation.
     Also, the center will probably experiment with so-called
"gray water" -- the water used in the sink, washing machine and
shower. That water will be collected for outdoor use and possibly
for use in toilets.
     "When we took over the house it was in what I guess you
could call severe disrepair," Boling said, smiling as he flips
through a handful of photographs that show its dilapidated
condition.
     "It was just a mess. The fireplaces were falling down
inside. The debris in the house was piled three or four feet high
in some places."
     Some improvements have already been made. The plaster has
been stripped out and the walls cleaned. A demolition company was
hired to gut the interior and replace rotted boards, making the
house safe to enter.
     Consulting architect C.J. Cantwell was hired in January to
do  drawings of the proposed project. Architects from the Clemson
Architectural Center at the University of Charleston have also
been involved.
     In March and April, the 113 Calhoun Street Foundation
applied for private money from three foundations. The foundation
has already received funding from BellSouth, SCANA, the S.C. Sea
Grant Consortium and The Ketner Fund.
     Organizers hope to hire a project architect later this year
and expect the construction and renovation phase to begin in
early 1997. Currently, the projected construction and renovation
budget is $250,000 to $300,000, not including operational
support. The tentative completion date for the center is Fall
1998.
     Once the center is completed, organizers expect to
capitalize on its location in the "Calhoun Corridor" with its 
proximity to many educational and cultural resources, including
the Medical University of South Carolina, the College of
Charleston, the under-construction Charleston County Library and
Charleston Aquarium, the Gaillard Auditorium and the Charleston
Convention and Visitors Center. 
     Currently, there are discussions about possible joint 
projects with the adjacent Buist Academy, a magnet school for
kindergarten through eighth grade.
     "This will be a living museum," Boling said. "When we're
finished with the renovation, we're still not through. As we
maintain the house, we'll be gathering data on materials, their
life and their maintenance requirements, and we'll be able to add
new technologies as we go along."
                               END