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An historic school built for African Americans in 1925 is restored and reopened in St. George, S.C. as a community center and museum. It will share the stories of those who created it and were educated there.

Painted bright white with a red, tin roof, the St. George Rosenwald school in Dorchester County looks new. Inside, former student Clara Britt is excited to sit behind a small, wooden desk again.

“I never thought that this would happen,” says Britt, giggling like a schoolgirl. She’s about to turn 102-years-old.

Sitting beside Britt is former classmate Ordie Brown. He’s 94-years-old and met his wife here.

“She was taking home economics,” says Brown. “They were practicing how to cook. She would give me lunch out the window.”

Brown and Britt are reunited for the reopening of the historic St. George school. After years of fundraising, planning and construction, the restored schoolhouse will now serve as a community center and museum, sharing the story of African Americans denied an education and the hope they found in schools like St. George Rosenwald.

Built in 1925, the schoolhouse is known as a Rosenwald school because it was funded in part by Julius Rosenwald. He was the son of Jewish immigrants who became the president of Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Rosenwald met educator Booker T. Washington in 1911. The founder of the Tuskegee Institute believed education was the key to African Americans breaking free from generations of oppression.

Together, the wealthy business owner and the educator born into slavery, set out to build schools for Black children.

At the time, 90% of African Americans lived in the South. Yet, schools for Blacks were just shacks with merely a fraction of the funding as White schools, if they existed at all.

Rosenwald offered to match funding in Black communities that raised money for schools and got the support of local white schoolboards. The idea was to get communities to work together.

Black families, already paying taxes for white schools, struggled, but came up with the money. They knew education could be life changing.

“If you’re a parent who can’t read or write, you want your kids to be able to that,” says former state Sen. John Matthews.

Matthews is grateful for the education he received at a Rosenwald school in Bowen, S.C. He helped raise money for the St. George restoration.

Between 1917 and 1932, roughly 5,000 Rosenwald schools were built, educating more than 600,000 Black children. Their graduates include civil right activists like Medgar Evers, John Lewis, and Maya Angelou.

Today, 500 Rosenwald schoolhouses remain but many are in disrepair. Former students like Ralph James want to save them.

“We see the progress, that in spite of these things, we tell the story of how persons made it,” says James. “How they were successful in life.”

A retired municipal judge, James attended the St. George school until it closed in 1954. He’s made it his mission to resurrect the schoolhouse and proudly gave a tour during its reopening earlier this month.

James says the six-teacher schoolhouse is one of the largest in the state, repurposed with electricity and bathrooms, amenities that did not exist when he was a student. He points to potbelly stoves and brick chimneys that warmed children who often had to walk miles because there were no school buses for Black children. And, like most Rosenwald schools, the building features tall windows with classrooms strategically placed.

“Because they had no light, they had no power and they didn’t want shadows on their desks,” explains Micah Thompson with the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, which helped with the restoration.

Congressman Jim Clyburn joined the tour as a special guest during the reopening. His late wife graduated from a Rosenwald School. He said preserving them pays tribute.

“Making sure that we honor the blood, sweat and tears of those who made this community what it is today.”

The congressman helped celebrate Brown and Britt as members of the school’s first graduating class. Brown spoke about playing basketball for the school with the team making a big tournament. But they’d only played on a dirt court.

“We went to the white high school and asked to practice on a wood floor,” said Brown. “But we were told no.”

Britt, meantime, was smitten with Clyburn.

“I had no idea I would ever meet you,” she said.

But Britt took issue with a banner that read she and Brown graduated in 1950.

“Our class is the class of 49. So, I would like them to change that sign,” said Britt as a roomful of guests erupted in laughter.

And, who’s going to argue? Britt is known as the student who once rode an ox to school to maintain her perfect attendance.

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Dorchester County Council is looking at a proposal to rezone 300 acres of land in St. George through using a new process.

The rezone ask is to allow for clusters of homes and create a high-density neighborhood at the old St. George Country Club property. Monday, the topic appeared on the agenda only as an informational meeting within the planning committee.

Committee Chair Dave Chinnis says the informational meeting a the committee level first is a somewhat new step in the process.

“One of the things that we seem to always do is give everything a first reading automatically. But we also had questions so then we get a second reading, and we ask questions, and we weren’t getting answers. To a third reading, which was ultimately when we were making the decision to pass or not to pass to zone or not rezone something,” Chinnis says.

Walking through that process, Chinnis says the lack of preparation didn’t make much sense to him. Talking with a Charleston County Council acquaintance, he decided to adopt one of their steps for large proposals - like the 300 acres in St. George. Thus, the informational meeting now happens before coming to council, to make future readings and public hearings even clearer on the details.

“I believe this St. George project is probably only the second maybe the third that we’ve had this,” Chinnis says.

Chinnis says this process will hopefully benefit everyone with an interest in a project. At the old St. George Country Club, the land is zoned agricultural, which allows for building houses on one-acre plots. The developer wants to change that to one-third acre plots but is promising to include green space. Chinnis says he’s already been able to nail down what that green space will be.

“I know in this case, we talked about open space being accessible, like community parks, pocket parks, so the people living in this neighborhood can go to their local park,” Chinnis says.

Chinnis says this is only the earliest stage of the major proposal, and there will be three full council readings, including a public hearing in the future. Now, he believes, those discussions will have more answers readily available when the public or council asks questions.

“The public gets input on everything. Sometimes there’s reasonable concerns. A property owner has certain rights, just like the person speaking has rights on their property. That property owner has rights on what they can and can’t do to their property and balancing that is always the challenge,” Chinnis says.

Chinnis says the public hearing for the 300-acre old St. George Country Club re-zone request will be at the St. George chambers, and the date will be posted 15 days ahead of time.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SAINT GEORGE, S.C. (WCSC) - A Dorchester County industrial park in the works for over 15 years is soon to be completed and will provide many more jobs and access to products for the area.

Winding Woods is a 1,300-acre industrial park in Saint George and Port 95 is a private development within the park. Port 95 will serve as distribution and manufacturing centers for different companies.

Crews are anticipating three buildings to be a part of Port 95, but they are currently completing construction on the first two. One of these buildings will be one million square feet, making it one of the largest buildings in the Charleston region.

This giant building can hold anywhere from one to four companies alone. The second building is about 240,000 square feet and will hold just one company.

This project in its entirety cost $100 million and was privately funded. They have yet to lease the spaces out, but Dorchester County Director of Economic Development John Truluck says they have many prospective companies. He said they have had an encouraging amount of people come to scope the buildings out, but nothing has been finalized yet.

Truluck says they are excited for this project to be completed.

“It has sort of been a field of dreams for Dorchester County to build it,” he says, “So it’s always interesting you know, when the first 10 years of this, everything has been below the surface, but now when you start to see something go vertical, it gets exciting, because that’s real and then everybody else in the community can now see it.”

They first broke ground on this project in October 2022 and are looking at anticipated completion at the end of the quarter. This project is a part of Dorchester County Council’s strategic plan to bring more employment and tax base to areas of the county that haven’t seen growth in the past. Truluck also anticipates that the project will bring more products to the county and believes that all of this will help congestion problems on I-26 from people commuting.

“Our whole objective is to bring jobs and investment to parts of Dorchester County that haven’t had that in the past. So, we hope to fill these buildings with, with jobs so that folks that live in Saint George can also work in Saint George,” Truluck says.

Truluck says that while the physical structure is almost complete, it likely would not be until 2025 that these buildings are up and running. He says the buildings are meant to act as shells so that the companies can make the space suitable for their needs. He said this process would probably take a few months after leasing.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Google has confirmed it is behind a data center development project in Ridgeville, South Carolina

The search and cloud company has also received permission to develop three more data centers in Belgium.

Google confirmed to expand in South Carolina

Google has revealed itself to be behind the Project Dawson data center proposals in South Carolina.

“The Dorchester County Economic Development (DCED) office, which serves to support economic growth in the county, confirms a relationship with Google who recently closed on property in the county,” the DCED said this week.

“We are thrilled to welcome Google to Dorchester County and know they will be a long-term partner for our community, especially our schools,” said Dorchester County Council Chairman Todd Friddle. “Google has a history of strengthening local workforces and uplifting communities, and we look forward to Google making a positive difference here in Dorchester County.”

Campus specifications or project timelines haven't been shared.

According to the Post and Courier, the company aims to invest $510 million in the new campus – a 231-acre site along Research Center Drive and Highway 17A in Dorchester County’s Pine Hill Business Campus. The Dorchester County Council voted to change the site’s zoning earlier this month.

Google – previously reported as the company likely involved – has previously been conducting business around the project behind the Autumn Timber LLC and Mallard LLC company names. The search company had been referring to the site as Project Dawson.

“We have been proud to call South Carolina home for over fifteen years since we first put down roots in Berkeley County,” Google said in a statement. “Since then, we have partnered closely with local leadership, schools, and nonprofits to lift up the great work happening here. As we look to expand in the state, we have acquired property in Dorchester County for the development of a new data center campus. We look forward to growing our community here in South Carolina and will share details as this long-term project progresses.”

Google currently operates a South Carolina data center campus in Moncks Corner, around 20 miles east of Ridgeville. The company recently acquired another 140 acres in the area.

The Post and Courier also reports that Google, going by the aliases Project Evergreen and Gannett Enterprises LLC, has also is purchasing 206 acres for a proposed third data center near the county's Winding Woods Commerce Park along Pecan Tree Road and Highway 78, outside the town of St. George. The company was granted a $5.55 million purchase option for the land this month.

However, the company reportedly aims to focus on the Pine Hill campus for now, and will expand to the Winding Woods site as demand requires.

Google expands in Belgium

In Belgium, Google has been granted permission for a new data center campus.

The Walloon Region has issued an urban planning permit to the company for the construction of a new data center campus in the Hainaut municipality of Farciennes. The company is reportedly investing €600 million ($646m) in the project.

“The Walloon Region has just granted the permit for the installation of Google in Farcienne,” said Hugues Bayet, mayor of the municipality of Farciennes. “A new step in the realization of the digital giant's welcome in our region and above all the net creation of many jobs!”

Plans for the camps were first announced in July 2023. The campus will span some 53,000 sqm (570,500 sq ft). Previous reports suggested work would begin on the first phase – spanning around 7,500 sqm (80,730 sq ft) – would begin last year and launch in 2025.

More recent press suggests groundbreaking for the first 80MW phase is due to happen later this year.

Google acquired 53 hectares of land in the Ecopôle eco-business park, located across the municipalities of Farciennes, Aiseau-Presles, and Sambreville, in 2019. According to previous reports, energy firm Elia has confirmed that 200-300MW of capacity would be available on the site.

Belgium’s Saint Ghislain was the site of Google’s first data center in Europe. The company has built five data centers at its 90-hectare Saint-Ghislain site since 2009 as well as a solar plant. The company uses the shell company Crystal Computing for much of its dealings in Belgium.

2022 also saw Google acquire a 36-hectare site located in Ecaussinnes, in Hainaut province, in the Feluy industrial zone near La Louvière.

According to Raphael Stokis, a delegated official of the Walloon Region, the conditions attached to the permit will require on-site solar panels. Additionally, 90 percent of the energy consumed on the site must be carbon-free by 2025 and this must even be 95 percent by 2030.

Google will also have to opt for a more sustainable cooling system for the data centers in future – reportedly switching from systems that use water-consuming technology to air-cooling.

RC Mine LLC, Dorchester County and various arms of our state and local governments have some serious explaining to do.

How has MRC Mine been digging a sand pit strip mine just 50 feet from a playground at Harleyville Elementary School and Harleyville-Ridgeville Middle School building for the past six months?

The dangers to children from this activity should be evident to all. Children exposed to this mining operation face breathing difficulties from the dust. The noise from the operation disrupts classroom activity, creates behavioral issues and can cause headaches. Dirty water, sinkholes and dry wells pose safety hazards. The mining activity stresses the school building itself (more than 60 years old).

I have been monitoring this issue for years because of the significant educational, environmental and public safety ramifications. When the Dorchester County Board of Zoning and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) had a public hearing in 2018 about permitting this sand pit strip mining operation, more than 200 community members and professionals, including parents, clergy, the DD4 school board and a state senator all voiced their strong opposition, according to the SCDHEC transcript of the public hearing from June 28, 2018.

As a result, MRC withdrew its mining application. Democracy worked.

But their interest in the location continued. It resurfaced in December 2022 in a particularly audacious and undemocratic fashion. MRC figured out how to avoid community opposition entirely. How?

First, Dorchester County rezoned the property next to the school, permitting the mining as a “conditional use” rather than a special exception. This meant the county’s board of zoning appeals (BZA) was not required to have a public hearing or review MRC’s request for this now-legal “conditional use.”

Second, MRC signed a contract with the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to mine five acres near the school to provide sand for I-26 construction. SCDOT sand pits, it turns out, are exempt from regulation under the South Carolina Mining Act. This clever move got MRC out of under the oversight of the county and the SCDHEC. The sort of public hearing in 2018 was no longer required and, therefore, never occurred.

Third, MRC owns 87 acres surrounding the school, including the five acres currently permitted for SCDOT mining. However, because of the contract with SCDOT to mine sand for I-26, SCDHEC has withdrawn jurisdictional oversight. Now, MRC wants to mine the entire 87-acre parcel without public hearings.

Fourth, with this legal hustle complete, MRC went before the Dorchester BZA this past February for a variance and permission to mine around the clock on the 87-acre site surrounding the two schools.

Could this open the door for MRC to mine beyond the five acres exempted by the SCDOT contract? I would like to know if MRC is staying within the SCDOT contracted five acres, especially considering the initial mining application covered more than 40 acres of the 87-acre parcel. What about the neighboring residents who have complained of noise they will sometimes hear late at night and of dust? I have driven by and seen dust clouds from the site during school hours.

The state and county are now hiding behind the “legality” of this MRC maneuver, the result of which has been to cut the public out of these decisions and damage the health and welfare of the community’s children.

But all is not yet lost. Here is what you can do now:Attend the March 27, 2024, hearing of the BZA at the county council chambers in St. George.

Contact Sen. Larry Grooms, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, at 803-212-6400.

Call 803-898-1368 to voice your concerns to SCDHEC’s Bureau of Land and Waste Management, Division of Solid Waste Management.

Ask Faith Rivers James, the executive director of the Coastal Conservation League, to intervene. The group can be reached at 843-723-8035.

Fill out this petition to share comments on the project: https://forms.gle/t7RU4f1pCkNppW5N6The risk to our children’s health and safety in St. George is too significant to allow this undemocratic process to play out. We can stop continued sand pit mining only if we flex our muscles as citizens. Otherwise, those who would destroy the health of our children and the quality of our environment for profit will get their way.