A student housing development planned for the College of Charleston is on hold after city officials raised concerns over the historic site's past. Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review voted unanimously to defer conceptual approval for the mixed-use residence hall at 106 Coming Street.
The proposed 130,000 square foot complex is designed to help ease the college's ongoing campus housing shortage. However, the property is home to a 1800s-era public burial site, which serves as the final resting place for enslaved individuals and early residents.
Board Chairman Henry Grimball said while the plan is good, the archeological aspect is not complete.
"That element is still open, commemorative archaeological element, and we need to get that closed. But the board wants it done. And we're not going to be very happy to defer this thing again and again," Grimball said.
Board members are requiring the developers to submit a completely separate, detailed application outlining how the site will be commemorated before any construction permits can be issued.
See previous stories reported by SC Public Radio's Victoria Hansen:
In Charleston, a community fights to keep a dorm off burial grounds
College of Charleston scans grounds of controversial dorm site
Council of archaeologists opposes building dorms on burial ground