Celebrating South Carolina Community Design in Summerton

Hilton Head, South Carolina,
United States of America

AIA Hilton Head sponsored a community design service initiative for the Town of Summerton in Clarendon County, South Carolina. In Summerton, as in all of the South Carolina communities selected to participate in Blueprint for America, volunteers were presented with a diverse array of challenges and opportunities. By working one-on-one with stakeholders, AIA volunteer teams were able to create preliminary plans and ideas for achieving quality design and community development for Summerton in the 21st century.

Project Overview

The town of Summerton, South Carolina, is at a crossroads in its growth and development. Located just two miles north of Lake Marion in Clarendon County, an area undergoing major real estate development, Summerton must quickly determine how to guide its imminent growth in positive directions.

Large-scale development has the potential to produce both positive and negative results for the community. New infrastructure needs could pose a threat to the county’s rural landscape and natural resources. Rapid growth can also generate significant social and economic changes. One major development currently in the planning stages is expected to create 10,000 new units of housing and 17,000 new jobs within the next 5-15 years. Job creation is welcome in Summerton, where the local per-capita income is nearly $7,000 below the national average.

Summerton and the surrounding area have a majority African-American population, which has historically suffered from a poor educational system. The landmark Supreme Court case, Brown vs. Board of Education, had early roots in Summerton with the Briggs vs. Elliott case that later became part of the national lawsuit. While the system has improved over the years, community leaders are concerned that the workforce may not be prepared to take advantage of the economic opportunities development will bring. They cite other resort areas in the state, such as Hilton Head and Bluffton, where African- Americans have not benefited from growth and prosperity, and where some have even been displaced.

Summerton is well-positioned to take advantage of economic development opportunities from proposed resort-style developments on its lake. However, without a community design process, the area is vulnerable to uncontrolled and haphazard growth, at the mercy of developers whose goals may not be aligned with those of area citizens.

In 2006, AIA Hilton Head, with Mayor Beth Phillips and an interdisciplinary design team, convened a two-day workshop to examine the following questions:

• What kind of design philosophy do we want new development to reflect?
• How do we recruit the “right kind” of developers?
• How can we use design guidelines and/or other means to control commercial development along the Highway 301 corridor?
• How can we connect the town physically and visually to the lake?
• How can the town and its residents benefit from growth?
• How do we ensure public access to the lake when lakefront property has become such a valuable asset?
• How do we embrace Summerton’s past, welcome the future, and maintain the town’s charm?

Among the outcomes of the workshop was the recommendation that Summerton establish a Brown vs. Board of Education Interpretive Center, combined with a Center for Rural Teacher Training. Other recommendations include strategies to control planning of lake-area development, and a design that would link local neighborhoods to each other and downtown via pedestrian access and a new park surrounded by shops, patio restaurants, and an amphitheater.

In 2007, a number of other events took place locally or throughout the state that resulted in further development recommendations for Summerton. In January, AIA Hilton Head hosted the Celebrating South Carolina Community Design Charrette in Summerton, and in November, the SC Mayors Institute for Community Design Colloquium was held in Columbia. Bolstered by this display of energy statewide, community leaders continue working to implement these design and development strategies and move their town toward a brighter future.

Additional Files

Project Overview

Summerton Final Report

Summerton AIA Charrette Final

Mayor Beth Phillips