Aiken council amends Friendship Baptist Church landmark designation to allow new multipurpose facility

Aiken City Council on Jan. 27 approved an ordinance to amend the historic designation for the Friendship Baptist Church complex at Richland Avenue East and Kershaw Street, allowing the congregation to keep the sanctuary as a landmark while reclassifying the parsonage as a contributing structure and the activity building as non‑contributing.

The change, adopted at first reading with unanimous council support, follows a recommendation from the planning commission. The ordinance as approved preserves the sanctuary’s landmark protections but reduces the regulatory constraints on the activity building so the church can pursue a new multipurpose facility with greater flexibility for exterior and interior work.

Church leaders and multiple congregants told council the existing administrative and activity buildings are deteriorated, not ADA‑accessible and costly to insure or repair. Pastor T.C. Edwards and trustees described plans to relocate the parsonage a short distance to preserve its historic fabric while using the former activity building footprint to build a modern, accessible multipurpose space for worship-related programs, food distribution and community services. Trustee chairman Donald Williams said the congregation voted overwhelmingly in favor of the amendment.

Preservation advocates and members of the public urged caution, stressing the parsonage’s architectural significance — prepared in the record as designed by African American craftsman Edinburgh Grama — and warning that a change to contributing status reduces protections that apply to a landmark listing. Historic preservationists recommended stronger conditions or a preservation plan to ensure the parsonage’s materials and features would be recorded and conserved if moved.

Council members said they heard both sets of concerns. Council members noted the congregation's repeated assertion that the parsonage cannot be maintained or insured in its current location and that the congregation is pursuing relocation to keep the house intact. When council voted, they approved the planning commission’s recommendation and moved the ordinance on first reading.

The action allows the church to pursue design and funding for a multipurpose facility and to proceed with the relocation plan for the parsonage. Council recorded no specific timetable beyond standard permitting and design review processes; the ordinance's final adoption will follow the city’s public hearing and second‑reading schedule.

Clarifying details provided during the meeting include: the parsonage is planned to be relocated less than 1,000 feet from its current site; church leaders reported the congregation voted roughly 97 to 2 in favor of the designation change; the activity building dates to circa 1930 with an addition in 1977; the sanctuary remains listed as a landmark from the city’s 1994 designation.

The council’s first‑reading approval means the planning and design review processes that follow will determine precise preservation measures, construction timing and any grant or funding applications the church pursues.