| | Issue #21.32 :: 08/06/2008 - 08/12/2008 | Reviving the GROW
Progressive Network Spearheading Effort
to Re-Establish Activist Headquarters Site
| BY ERIC K. WARD
| There might indeed be an otherworldly component to the GROW, a dimension that lives on in hearts and minds and perseveres in the ether amid a lack of a home and fits and starts on the journey of its purpose.
Short for Grass Roots Organizing Workshop, the GROW is a building and a movement situated for more than 20 years in an otherwise ordinary structure in Olympia.
The building — giant and cinderblock on Bluff Road just outside City of Columbia limits — still stands. However, its role as the headquarters of the progressive movement in South Carolina ended in 2000 when the structure was sold. It now houses an artists’ co-op.
“We’ve been homeless, wandering, since we lost the old GROW building,” says Brett Bursey, director of the nonprofit South Carolina Progressive Network, a coalition of 63 organizations dedicated to causes ranging from peace and labor rights to voter participation and environmental protection.
 |
| Becci Robbins, communications director of the South Carolina Progressive Network, and Brett Bursey, director of the network, look over blueprints for a new headquarters for the progressive movement in South Carolina. The network is eyeing the Habitat for Humanity building at 209 South Sumter St. in Columbia. Photo by Graeme Fouste |
Homeless, yes; but hapless, no.
Bursey and other leaders of the Progressive Network have continued their activist work since their movement departed the former GROW building. And they are determined to re-establish a bricks-and-mortar headquarters, having fixed their attention on the Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity building at 209 South Sumter St. It too sits just over the city line in Richland County.
The GROW was more than a building that sheltered the movement locally. It also took on roles as a residence, a bar, a café, a food co-op, an art house, a print shop and a venue for music and literary pursuits.
Some GROW veterans, such as Columbia resident Merll Truesdale, hold that those various functions, especially the residential one, infused the GROW with a spiritual quality.
That’s the otherworldly thing.
To Bursey, a base of operations is all about institutionalizing the efforts of the progressive movement. “In the years that we had the old GROW building you could come by anytime,” he says.
The Habitat building seems an ideal new home for the movement. It’s close to the State House and USC and other schools, affording convenience to press the General Assembly on key issues and recruit college-age volunteers. It’s plenty big — 9,000 square feet plus. And it’s for sale.
“We’re trying to relocate closer to the I-20, I-26 interchange where we can get up and go to our [home construction] sites quicker,” says Roy Kramer, director of the Midlands Habitat affiliate.
Habitat is asking $375,000 for the building.
The Progressive Network has a contract to buy it and has lined up private financing to do so, Bursey says, adding that the network hopes to raise money to renovate the structure through donations and bank equity loans. “I think we’re going to call it the GROW café,” he says.
There’s one catch though: To be sustainable, reviving the GROW requires a revenue stream. For that the network is seeking tenants, but not just any renters. They need to be like-minded ones, such as some of the network’s member groups or other progressive nonprofits, Bursey says.
Trouble is, they are having difficulty finding them.
“We thought this would be the easiest part of the process,” says Tom Law, a Lexington County resident and network member who is helping coordinate the revival effort.
The Habitat structure consists of three adjoining buildings.
“Building one has 11 small offices, a large reception area, a board room that seats 30 and a kitchen,” says a Progressive Network proposal to buy and retrofit the complex. “Building two will be renovated into a 2,400-square-foot social hall that will accommodate 200 for conferences, concerts and a full array of events from films to speakers. There will be a kitchen to cater to events. Building three provides 2,200 square feet of meeting space.”
Fred Delk, director of the Columbia Development Corporation, says the area around the Habitat location is underdeveloped and seems to hold decent potential.
Could it be a new home to the GROW’s calling? Perhaps the spirits in the material world will make it so. | |
|
| |
Comments (0)
