Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

If I recall correctly, this little development, Sesqui Pointe, and the one next to it were the cause of considerable controversy as they were built on land bought from Sesqui State Park, something very unusual for a state park to do, and something which existing property owners did not expect at all when they located next to a state park.

SleepWorks (it appears to be one word with internal capitalization) is a chain which supports sleep disorder treatment. From their site it appears that there are still a number of locations in South Carolina and the Midlands. I'm not sure when this one closed, but since the branding is still up, and since this has been such a bad year for everyone, I'm going to guess "2020" in the post title.

I can't recall that I've ever stayed in a Rodeway Inn, the mental picture I have is of pretty basic accomdation, but this one, at least, had a pool on-site. This property started, I believe, as a Thunderbird Inn, a now nearly defunct chain with really cool signs. At some point thereafter, it was an Econo Lodge, as you can see in these pictures I took for the co-located Hilltop Restaurant closing.

Now, the Rodeway has closed, and they are doing asbestos abatement on the property, presumably in preparation to tear the whole place down. Google doesn't turn up any news stories, so I'm not sure what's next for this property.

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When I finally got over to Forest Lake Park after commenter Sidney mentioned that the gym was being torn down, I found the whole place fenced off and closed. Presumably there is an upfit planned here, but oddly, I can find no mention of it on the Richland County Recreation Commission site. Elsewhere on the site there is a ten year plan for the system, but the only mention of the park there is that it is in "fair" condition and could be better. I don't see any news stories about it either.

I actually did not realize this was a park -- I thought it was all part of the adjacent elementary school. It looks to have been a pleasant enough place.

Also, for the record, I have used the term Forest Lake Park on this site before to talk about the park attached to the old Forest Lake Shopping Center, which is apparently technically incorrect.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

I noticed the other evening that this florist, on Two Notch near Spring Valley Antique Mall was gone. I go to florists probably less than once a decade, and never went to this one, so there's not much I can say. I do find the name a bit curious, as it sounds more like a nursery than a flower shop.

Sometimes I lose track of all the names a storefront in Five Points has had, and whether I have done a closing on it, but it appears I have never done one for any incarnation of 711 Harden Street.

Cover 3 was another one of the local bars caught up in the rule tightening last year, and decided to close when their permit ran out on 31 August rather than continue to contest the new restrictions. The Post & Courier has the story, along with a nice photo of Cover 3 in full operation. The State has basically the same story.

I note that the place has now been vacant for over a year, which to me argues that the city has allowed itself to be shot in the foot. Of course, once the pandemic hit, probably it was going to remain vacant for a while in any event.

I believe I first photographed this strip back in 2008 when Hollywood Video closed, and this unit was a Nationwide insurance office. Google suggests that at some point between then and now, it was
Alter Ego Hair Salon. Streetview for 2018 shows the slot already vacant, so doing a blue-sky guess (not confirmed by any phonebook) that that closed in the 2016 timeframe.

I last wrote about this space in 2008, on the closing of The Happy Bookseller. Even before that venerable institution closed, the Happy Cafe had been inside functioning as a bookstore cafe. After that they went standalone, and have had a good long run.

Unusually in this snakebit year, they are not closing due to the pandemic, but to move on to new ventures, including selling the cafe's well known caramel cake online. This ColaDaily article has the story and says:

Hodges and Reynolds said they would love to see customers dine-in, order to go and stock up on favorites like the pulled chicken barbeque, casseroles, and Sue's famous caramel in the coming months. They said their plan is to close the cafe on a celebratory note.

That would come near the end of the year. I really should try to get over there and eat lunch before 3:00 for once.

Years ago, my niece was enrolled in tumbling at The Little Gym in its old location on Beltline and had a good time. As I recall, the move to the old Sounds Familiar location came after a fire at D's Wings and damage from the water used to put it out.

This time the culprit is 2020's scourge COVID-19. As ColaDaily reports:

Angie Brazell, owner of The Little Gym of Columbia, announced Thursday that the facility will be closing Oct. 24, due to lack of revenue prompted by COVID. Despite new families joining the gym, Brazell said it is just not enough under the new way they have to operate in order to keep guests safe.

UPDATE 9 October 2020: Fixed mistaken Devine Street in post title address with Rosewood Drive.

The Blue Flour Bakery in the State House section of Main Street had been closed since 16 March due to the COVID-19 scourge, but as ColaDaily reports, they recently made the decision not to re-open.

I was not really aware of this eatery, but it sounds like it would have been a nice place to duck into for coffee & snacks, and while this storefront is closed, there remains one in Irmo at 7703 Saint Andrews Road, so perhaps I can still do that some day.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

As has been mentioned in Have Your Say several times today, Regal is re-closing its theaters Thursday after having reopened them (where it could) a month or so ago. The reason is pretty simple really: No Movies.

After the pulling of Wonder Woman, Black Widow, and as the last straw, James Bond, the theaters have nothing to show. Granted the box office of the few films that did limp out like Bill & Ted 3, New Mutants & Tenet was not good, but you have to keep the pump primed. It appears to me that the studios are cutting their own throats by letting the theater chains go under. Sure maybe you're not going to get your money back on the next few films, but you've got to keep people thinking about movies, and you're sure not going to get a billion dollar film over streaming.

In the meantime, I see that the St. Andrews bargain cinemas are doing what they can with screenings of classics like The Empire Strikes Back and Harry Potter.

Here's looking at you, kid