Historic First (Scots) expands — very carefully

What if a new 20,000-square-foot building was built south of Tradd Street and hardly anyone noticed?

It's no hypothetical question. It pretty much describes First (Scots) Presbyterian Church's new Molly Wier Hall, which was dedicated Sunday.

The project, from its earliest architectural conception to the end of construction, took an agonizing seven years.

While there were many low points and moments of angst, both church officials and neighborhood leaders think the end result not only was worth the wait but better because of it.

As First Scots continued to grow, it was bumping up against two conflicting realities.

One was that it needed more room for its staff, kindergarten program and everyone who attends Sunday school.

Unlike the olden days, when churches were pretty much churches, today's most vibrant congregations have campuses where the sanctuary represents only a small fraction of their total building space.

First Scots' historic 1814 church, designed in a similar look of Benjamin Henry Latrobe's Baltimore Cathedral, has only 7,150 square feet. This recent project renovated 8,700 square feet as office, classroom and youth space and added another 19,800 square feet for a fellowship hall, industrial kitchen and more classrooms.

The church's other reality was that its 1 1/2-acre campus is nestled between Meeting, Tradd and King streets -- one of the most beautiful and dense areas in Charleston's Old and Historic District.

First Scots' expansion possibilities were hemmed in not only by its cemetery, existing buildings and desire to maintain a playground space, but also by neighbors' sensitivities, such as their wish to have the church maintain as much on-site parking as possible and to keep their new institutional building away from their back doors.

Trey McCraw, a First Scots member and contractor who helped steer the project along, jokes that the resulting building is "Plan L."

"We started with Plan A," he says. "But looking back on it, Plan L was the right plan. I looked back at Plans A through K, and they're not what this building turned out to be."

The dominant architectural issue surrounding Molly Wier Hall (named after the late church leader whose name had adorned the previous parish hall) was simply where to place it on the site and how to "de-mass" it so that its second and third floors gently receded from surrounding homes, softening its impact on them.

This can be seen most dramatically from the garden of the Nathaniel Russell House, which abuts the church's southern property line. The view is of a new building with a handsome piazza on the second floor and a recessed third floor -- one slightly lower than the top of the Russell house.

It's not by accident that architects Cummings & McCrady Inc. got this right: They made eight separate presentations to the Historic Charleston Foundation, which runs the house museum.

The church originally planned to give away and move its 1930s house at 62 King St., which was built oddly far back from the street.

But neighbors objected through the Board of Architectural Review (including one right next door who also happens to be an outspoken property rights advocate -- an irony that didn't escape close observers).

The city wouldn't allow the house to be torn down, so the project morphed from two smaller phases into one big one -- and the congregation was asked to commit to the $7.2 million price tag in a tough economic time.

The work itself, done by Trident Construction, amounted to an entirely different ordeal, from relocating church offices to the North Area, to studying the condition and vibrations on surrounding properties, to a 10-page legal agreement between the church and residents and to frequent e-mail updates.

All this fuss for a building barely visible from the public right of way. "You can see it from certain areas, but you just see little slivers," McCraw says. "What I like about it is when you see it from those slivers, you want to see more."

Robert Behre may be reached at 937-5771 or by fax at 937-5579. His e-mail address is rbehre@postandcourier.com, and his mailing address is 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.