$16.6M allocated for city projects

Money from North Charleston's sale of property on the former Navy base soon will pay for $15.2 million in projects across the city, including a new mural in the Olde Village and extensive exterior work at the old Power House.

In addition, the city will borrow $1.4 million to build a new fire station on Palmetto Commerce Parkway.

City Council's Finance Committee approved the $16.6 million spending plan earlier this week.

The biggest chunk of money, $7.7 million, will pay to build a park and a three-company fire station on the former Charleston Naval Base tank farm on Carner Avenue near the Military Magnet School. It will move two fire stations off the old base and one from across the street to the 24-acre site.

The spending plan also includes $2 million to begin tearing down the piping and add-ons to the Power House, which the city hopes to develop into a cultural facility at some point. Extensive interior renovation also will be needed, but no money has been allotted.

The plan also sets aside $2 million for the future H.L. Hunley Museum. The city would like to build it north of Noisette Creek near the waterfront, but the location has not been determined.

An additional $1 million will go toward designing a new Public Works facility where the city's annex building now sits off Remount Road.

The building that houses city courtrooms and fire and code enforcement offices will be converted into the Public Works Department offices and warehouse space after the current offices are moved to the new City Hall off Mall Drive.

"It's strange, but it was an office/warehouse before and it will be that again," Finance Committee Chairman Kurt Taylor said.

Half a million dollars will pay to build new restrooms, storage and increased lighting at Riverfront Park.

The plan calls for $1.5 million to be spent on designing the new streetscape for East Montague Avenue between Park Circle and Rivers Avenue through the Liberty Hill, Ferndale, Palmetto Gardens and Morningside neighborhoods.

The new streetscape would complement the refurbished section of East Montague through the Olde Village east of Park Circle.

An additional $400,000 would pay for a conceptual plan for public access to green space along Noisette Creek.

The most intriguing part of the spending plan calls for a mural to be painted on an aluminum raw-material storage tank at the end of East Montague in Olde North Charleston.

"We haven't decided what we want to do," Taylor said. "Some think it would be nice to make it look as though you would be looking through the tank and see the riverscape, and other thoughts are to paint a nice painting or an American flag or South Carolina flag.

"The idea is to make it a beautiful site instead of looking at a tank from a street that has seen a tremendous resurgence."

On Thursday the city agreed to buy two acres on Palmetto Commerce Parkway from Spring Grove Associates for $225,000. The land will be used to build the $1.4 million fire station to serve the rapidly developing area between Interstate 26 and Wescott Plantation.

"That fire station is badly needed with the growth out there," Councilman Bob King said.

"These are well-placed, tremendous improvements for the neighborhoods in which they are located," Taylor said. "It's the right time to do it because things are not getting any less expensive. They are great first steps to further enhancing the quality of life in North Charleston."

Reach Warren Wise at 745-5850 or wwise@postandcourier.com.