BLYTHEWOOD – The Architectural Review Board met Monday evening and voted to approve, with contingencies, a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for a building at 118 McNulty St. that will soon house the Region 6 Headquarters of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department as well as an office for the Blythewood Magistrate.
Those contingencies placed by the ARB include final landscape approval by the Town’s architect and a change in the proposed signage on the front of the building from two separate signs for the Sheriff’s Department and the Magistrate’s Office to a single sign.
The building was the former Ace Hardware store that was most recently occupied by the Rivers International Church. While considerable renovation will be done inside the building, the outside will see few changes. A column motif will be created along the front of the building and the color of the stucco and brick across the front will closely resemble Trinity United Methodist Church’s new youth center across the street.
Town Administrator John Perry suggested that some full-grown crepe myrtles may be moved to the front of the property and he said the Town would most likely offer to share in that cost since it would benefit the town’s streetscape along McNulty Street.
According to a spokesperson for the County, Richland County Council approved a total of $1,060,000 at their July 2 meeting for purchase of the building, the lot and the upfitting of both. According to Preston Young, the real estate agent for the sale, plans are to start the renovation process immediately.
After the COA is approved, the permitting and oversight of the project will be turned back over to Richland County, according to Perry.
The Headquarters will have four shifts with two-hour rotations and four squads, just as it is currently at Lake Carolina, and with the same command structure — Capt. Roxanne Meetze and Lt. Harry Polis.
Capt. Chris Cowan of the Sheriff’s Department told The Voice earlier in the summer, “While the Town has 24/7 service from the Department now, there will definitely be more of a presence of the Sheriff’s Department in the Town with this move.”
