Charleston County council declines request to oppose mitigation plan for Tobin Boyd School; community and preservationists press for stronger protections

Residents and preservation advocates urged Charleston County Council on May 13 to act to save Tobin Boyd Elementary School, a former segregated school in the Red Top community that the county's 2016 cultural resource survey identified as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Jamal Wright, vice president of the Red Top Community, told council the neighborhood "would like the opportunity to save Tobin Boys School and preserve that school for our community so we can tell our history." Wright and other speakers said they were not given notice or an opportunity to purchase or otherwise secure the school when ownership changed.

Sam Spence of the Preservation Society of Charleston said the county's own 2016 survey documented Tobin Boyd as eligible for the National Register and recommended nomination. "The county has documented Tobin Boyd School as significant, and it's currently threatened by development," Spence said. He told council preservation staff and planning staff should be empowered to participate in mitigation conversations so that information needed to weigh preservation…