Reflections
on Five Points
When asked to
tell their story of Five Points, the "ancient" owners of the community's
restaurants and shops were more than happy to participate. Five points
is their livelihood, their office, their home. Many stores have come
and gone in this small area of consumer entertainment, but these storytellers
have remained. There is a sense of pride, it seems, for them to be asked
to reflect on their success. Scott McRay, owner of Yesterday's, a favorite
Five Points restaurant and tavern, sat down with me to tell his story
of his twenty-five years watching Five Points expand and decline. Opening
its doors in September of 1977, it was not named Yesterday's until the
next year. McRay recounts the countless times he has seen businesses
come and go. Retails stores, he says, have tried with brave effort to
be incorporated into the surviving cluster of this area, with little
success. The creative humble store owners with the dream of expressing
their "original" and intrinsic ideas have used this place as a viewfinder
into the local taste. The bites, unfortunately have been few and far
between. When Yesterday's started out, McCray recalls the days when
the cash register had only slots for various coins, and bills were kept
in a cigar box. It's a much different story today. Yesterday's has become
a favorite restaurant and bar for the local patrons ranging from college
students, to professionals, to the older residents that have called
the streets of Five Points their home since the days of coin-slotted
cash registers. McCray welcomes the City of Columbia's beautification
project, although he remains skeptical. Lacking faith in the vision
of the originators of the Five Points beautification project, unaware
that phase one of the project has been completed. McCray hesitates in
his enthusiasm because of a history of false promises and ideas. While
wary of the overall success of the project, McCray feels that any visual
improvements to Five Points will lead to a boost in business. From another
perspective, the manager at Hiller Hardware, another long-standing business
familiar to Five Points, is concerned with the clutter and congestion
that will arise from the final phase of this project. Since the main
drag, Harden Street is scheduled to be widened, with a divider erected,
the confusion of the late night revelers might prove to be a hazardous.
However, the manager of Hiller Hardware eagerly anticipates the wider
roads and ample parking that will result with completion of the "Beauty
Five" project. While there is little concern about how these improvements
will enhance Five Points and increase sales for local business, there
are concerns about the damages that may occur during the project and
just how long it will take to complete. With these concerns on the front
of the Five Points store owners mind's, it would seem that the visitors
concerns would be that of the end result, making Five Points a less
cluttered and beautified, for lack of a better word, place to visit.
And hopefully increase the number of visitors to this local hot spot.
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The Future Five Points Face Lift
Phase I of the Five Points remodeling
and landscape project began with the fountain at Greene and Harden Streets. Phase II and III of the project will be implemented
at the beginning of 2004 after a new sewer system is installed underground.
The next phase of the project will be a 9.2 million dollar renovation
of Harden Street. The money for the project is a combination
of federal and city funds as well as money raised by the Five Points
Association.
"This project
is so unique because this is not just a government project; it is also
a neighborhood project. Everyone
is involved."
The improvements
planned are new sidewalks, decorative lighting, and tree lined streets
and medians. Also, improvements
are planned for Saluda Avenue,
Pavilion, and Devine Streets. The
goal is to make Five points “beautiful,” improve safety,
parking and traffic flow. Many
parking areas will be reconfigured to help utilize the space available.
"Parking is
s good problem,” Parker said.
“It means parking is a hopping place."
Five Points will still be the heart of entertainment, shopping,
and dining for many years to come, but soon it will have a fresh, new
look for the future.
The
Harden Street Streetscape
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Five
Points: A Live Look
(Click
on image for video)
The
Corner of Blossom and Harden Streets
Current
Five Points Panoramic
Five
Points Phase I Live
The
History
Of
Five Points
Five
Points 1939
In
celebration of the introduction of railway cars to the Five Points-Shandon
area in May of 1884, the street railways and developers, led by Robert
W. Shand, opened up the pavilion, hoped by many as a way to draw tourists
from the upstate. The 50' by 75' edifice on Devine St. near Harden,
known now as simply "Pavilion Avenue", was said to eventually be joined
by fountains, bath houses, and facilities for swimming, baseball, tennis,
shooting and bicycle riding. Although Five Points never realized its
dreams of being the centerpiece of a resort community, with the much
touted facilities never materializing in this often under water basin,
Five Points did become a popular place for entertainment. "Dances, concerts,
and magic lantern shows were held there occasionally, and completion
of a trolley 'Belt Line' that enabled one to circle throughout the southeastern
quarter of the city for only five cents made the pavilion a favorite
stopping place…but for whites only." In 1910, the Rembert Development
Company, headed by R.C. Keenan and R.W. Shandon, presented the city
with 15 acres of land in McCreery's Bottom, the lower end of Rocky Branch.
These 15 acres were soon converted into what is now Maxcy Gregg Park,
and in 1912 the same waterway upstream would lead to the development
of Valley Park, once home to the Shandon Pavilion. The Rocky Branch
was sent underground through large culverts in 1915, allowing Columbia
streets to continue further eastward into Shandon, and allowing Five
Points to become Columbia's first shopping complex. After World War
II, it was thought that upgrading the traditional business district
with wider streets, another bridge across the Congaree, a parking garage
and better bus service would revitalize the Main Street area, the growth
of Five Points as a shopping area called this approach into question.
In July of 1949 a large, all-purpose grocery store opened, and in 1954
Sears vacated their former Main Street Address in favor of the growth
of the Shandon-Five Points area, creating what was called "Sears Town."
Source: Moore, John H. Columbia and Richland County:
A South Carolina Community, 1740-1990. Columbia: University of South
Carolina Press, 1993.
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