Bank, Corner of Trenholm Rd & Decker Blvd: 1980s 34 comments
This bank building sits on the corner of Trenholm and Decker across from Dent Middle School, catty-cornered from the Staples/Goodwill plaza and across from the Longhorn/Comedy House plaza. For some reason, it has been vacant and derelict since the 1980s. I can't recall what the original tenant was, or what happened to it. Perhaps it was a victim of the Great Savings & Loan Crisis; perhaps during the great bank merger boom it was swallowed up by a chain with a branch close enough that keeping it open didn't make sense. Maybe a teller cleaned out the vault and took off for Mexico..
That the architecture is so obviously bank-ish may explain why no other business has ever bought the building: If you put a restaurant or shoe store there, people's eyes would register "bank" and just skip over it. It doesn't explain, however, why the lot hasn't been sold and the building torn down for something new. There are no real-estate signs on the lot -- it appears that the owner has just given up on the property. I can understand that it might be hard to sell now with Decker in decline (both neighboring plazas are somewhat of hard-luck cases), but I don't recall ever seeing signs there. Access from Decker heading towards Two Notch would be a bit of a problem, but there is access from Trenholm and Decker heading towards Percival, so it's not awful.
At any rate, the clearly legible "CLOSED" sign in the drive through window (still mostly unbroken!) describes the situation more clearly than originally intended.
PS: If you need any CD jewel cases, there's a whole stack of them in a pile in the parking lot on the drive-through side).
UPDATE: Commenter Mike suggests it looks like a C&S branch.
UPDATE: Commenter Jim says South Carolina Federal Savings & Loan
34 Responses to 'Bank, Corner of Trenholm Rd & Decker Blvd: 1980s'
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Mike
8 Mar 08 at 10:43 pm
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I definitely remember there being "C&S" ("Citizens & Southern", if I recall correctly..) banks but don't remember anything about them. You may well be right. Thanks!
ted
9 Mar 08 at 12:46 am
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This was built as an office for South Carolina Federal Savings & Loan. Both this building and Granby's - diagonally across - apparently suffered from poor traffic access. Neither building was ever used by any other business.
Jim M
11 Mar 08 at 7:45 am
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who the hell pays taxes on this property??? I just do not get it.
T
2 May 08 at 3:54 pm
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SC Federal was absorbed by First Union (which was later absorbed by Wachovia). Remember that during the late '80s and early '90s, S&L's were failing left and right, and were taken over by more solvent institutions. This would have become a First Union property in the early '90s, although the new owners might have just closed it down instead of rebranding it. Don't know if there was an already-established First Union in the area.
badger
30 Jan 09 at 3:56 pm
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One thing worth noting about the access here is that this intersection is a little different now than when it was when this bank was in operation. First Union (now part of Wachovia) took over the “SC Federal” S&Ls in the early 90s, but I don’t know how long after that they operated this branch, if they ever did.
Previously, across the street there was a Western Steer where the school is now. If I recall correctly, it was owned by Ed Bruce, who also owned the “Brake King” shops in town. For whatever reason, he got out from under the Western Steer name, and renamed his restaurant “Ed’s Steak Barn” for a short while before it closed. Later, the property was occupied by the “Black Forest,” a German-styled restaurant. I don’t know how well business was during that time, but its owner, Max Egloff died in 1988, it ended up closing. He also owned another Black Forest in the Asheville/Arden NC area. That one did live on after his death, but I don’t know if it’s still open.
Anyway, after Black Forest, the property was razed, and the intersection redone to accommodate the school.
badger
15 Jul 09 at 4:01 pm
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When are you talking of? I ask because as far as I can recall, Dent Middle School (formerly Dent High School, I think) has been there longer than anything else.
ted
15 Jul 09 at 4:27 pm
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This woulda been early 1990s when they razed the restaurant area. I thought they added some new construction to the school in that location, but maybe they just did it to rework the intersection.
badger
15 Jul 09 at 7:49 pm
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Dent has been there since the '60s and maybe earlier as a High School. And when Spring Valley opened in apprx. '70-'71 Dent was changed to a junior high. Grades 8th and 9th. The restaurant on the corner was there during the '70s and I remember it being "The Hungry Bull" and then later something else. Decker was a hot area back then (late '70s-'80s). Who remembers when Studebakers and Duffs was open where Olive Garden and Red Lobster used to be. Appelgates Landing was across the street and that intersection was always busy. The Decker Mall with Kroger and Richway seemed busy all the time especially Kroger. Who remembers Flipside Records And Tapes right next door to Kroger. They always priced the new release albums at $5.99 which was as cheap as you could get them back then. Its sad to see how run down Decker is now.
jjt
16 Jul 09 at 9:21 am
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jjt or anybody,
Was there another "The Hungry Bull" located anywhere else in Columbia? I vaguely remember that name, but don't think we'd driven out to Decker all the way from St. Andrews. We went to Parklane Seafood quite often though, so maybe we did. I remember another "Duff's" on Broad River Road. I think know is/was a female gym located in that building.Jonathan
16 Jul 09 at 9:38 am
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Dentsville High School opened in the 1920's at that location, so the school has been there longer than anything else definitely.
I remember going with my dad to buy a TI-994A computer at a computer store at Decker Mall, probably 1981. Also took guitar lessons at the music store at the mall around that time.
Dave
16 Jul 09 at 9:39 am
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I think one other Hungry Bull was in the same area as the 360 Club and Heartbreakers on Bush River. May have been others, too. I don't recall which building exactly, but it was later occupied by Tez's Mexican restaurant. Also in that same area was some sort of club/restaurant called "Fannigans," which at one point I think Wendy Ethel was running or managing.
badger
16 Jul 09 at 9:45 am
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Does anyone remember the short lived Go-Cart track that was behind or to the right of Dent on Trenholm were the Burger King is now. They were there briefly in around '81-'83. I remember going there and when a train would go over the bridge on Decker it was like being off-road on those go-carts. Really loud and the ground would shake you were so close. Further down Trenholm in that little strip mall on the right was a T&T Sports. I think from around '75-'78.
jjt
16 Jul 09 at 9:47 am
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There is no "Hungry Bull" on Decker in the 1970 or 1976 phonebook. In 1970, there was a "Hungry I" on Decker, and in 1976, there was a "Hungry Bull" on Bush River.
ted
16 Jul 09 at 9:50 am
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I certainly remember the Decker Mall record store and still have some of those LPs (somewhere..). When they were going under, they put out an ambiguous "Going out for business" sign.
ted
16 Jul 09 at 9:52 am
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Yes, I remember the Go Karts. After that, I think the Go Kart building was a "Pet Med" store for a bit.
ted
16 Jul 09 at 9:54 am
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Jonathan, I remember a Hungry Bull on Bush river where Badger stated. Parklane Seafood was awesome. One vivid memory was of a a biker type guy that was there late in the afternoon for the all you can eat crab legs. He would prop a book up against a napkin holder and use a bayonet knife to hold his place while reading. He was a machine..reading and eating. Luckily he would always leave before the dinner crowd and we would only see him when we went early. Which really didn't matter because he never bothered anyone. My brother had a girlfriend that worked at the Hungry Bull on Decker. He would drag me there to get her after work and I would sit there eating crackers and drinking tea while they chatted with the other workers they knew. Dave was the name of the Music Store at Decker Mall Melody Music? Why does that name sound familiar?
jjt
16 Jul 09 at 10:07 am
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Pet Med store! I was trying to remember what it was after the Go Carts.
jjt
16 Jul 09 at 10:09 am
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Thanks. We would have certainly gone to the one on Bush River. Speaking of that building, and while I was writing the first post, I remember "Jaws" seafood restaurant there. I'm sure I wanted to go because of the movie. Thinking of the sign and menu, it was downright copyright infringement of the shark coming out of the water that was used on all the promos. I remember Tez's, but it was on the other side of 26, at least at one point. If you took the Bush River exit coming towards Columbia and crossed through the light, it was straight ahead. I also remember the sign for "The Matador" motel, which I believe was located in the current Red Roof Inn building.
Jonathan
16 Jul 09 at 10:18 am
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JJT, yep it was definitely Melody Music.
Dave
16 Jul 09 at 10:25 am
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I remember the Mexican restaurant across Bush River from the off ramp being "Miranda's Mexican Restaurant." Miranda's had the absolutely most limited salad bar I had ever seen, maybe four or five items, including lettuce and dressing. Didn't know that Tez's had been there, too. I do remember Tez's being in the old Hungry Bull, though. Later, the "Miranda's" building would be a club called "Bottoms Up."
badger
16 Jul 09 at 10:38 am
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There was a Hungry Bull on Garner's Ferry across from Colonial Furniture. I know it was there in 76-77. I believe its a Mexican place now.
jamie
16 Jul 09 at 11:07 am
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I loved flipside records at Decker Mall. The first tape I ever bought was Van Halen 1984. I got it there when I was in first grade.
Dent has expanded a lot but I'm not sure if they expanded as far over as where the restaurant was. I remember at one point that place sold silverware to other restaurants.
MR BILL
16 Jul 09 at 12:25 pm
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I had forgotten about it being a "restaurant supply" business.
If you look at Google Maps Street View at 2782 Decker Blvd, that's the building that I thought was new construction for the school after the restaurant closed. But maybe not. Maybe they just widened the road over the old property.
badger
16 Jul 09 at 1:01 pm
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Jonathan, what you're thinking about on that side of 26 wasn't Tez's. After that location was Fanigan's, it was a soutwest/tex-mex restaurant called Papanada's. I thought it was pretty good -- lots of mesquite-grilled items. There was another one in Augusta that outlasted the one here, but I think it's closed, too.
E.J.
16 Jul 09 at 6:52 pm
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I remember the restauratn next to dent being a Hungry Bull. In fact they created a lot of controversy becazuse school officials believed that they wanted to use the school's parking lot for the restaurant and lure schools kid there for lunch. Consequently, a big fence was built around the school to prevent both those things.
The Hungry Bull chain did not last long, myabe 2-4 years, before it went kaput.
Tom
17 Jul 09 at 10:24 am
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Having driven thru this intersection recently, I think what they did was they moved the intersection with Decker eastward, so that Trenholm would go straight across to the extension instead of merging in with Decker. So the redirected approach to Decker is probably over the old Bull/Steer/Black Forest location.
badger
17 Jul 09 at 7:27 pm
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Is there an address on this building?
Lu R
25 May 10 at 1:09 pm
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The Go-cart track was either where this bank building was or right next to it. That place was awesome! I went there for a couple of birthday parties. Some kids got probably got hurt, the owners sued which led to the demise of the only go-cart track around!
palmettopanic
26 May 11 at 12:42 pm
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I do have an entry for the go kart track but unfortunately no pictures.
ted
26 May 11 at 1:55 pm
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Looks like this building may nt be long for the world. It appears to be an impending victim for the (soon to be) failed attempt to revitalize Decker.
http://www.thestate.com/2011/10/24/2020814/pick-a-corner-do-something.html
tonkatoy
24 Oct 11 at 8:51 am
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Jim Manning is trying to revitalize Decker Blvd. and is stating with this intersection and the owner of the new Taco Bell at Decker & Trenholm has taken notice
Goodwill moved into the former Phar-Mor/Superpetz location in Fashion Place recently and it appears that Its Fashion Metro will open on Goodwill's old spot
Now to see what become of Richland County setting up auxilary offices in Decker Mall
The article tonkatoy linked is day 2 of a 4 day series The State is planning to do on reviving the Decker corridor that has gone into decline as further Northeast Richland developments such as Sparkelberry Square, Village at Sandhill, etc. took shape. Day 3 will feature what is coming to Decker and I am looking forward to seeing where that goes. I think one of the biggest things that needs to happen since Richland County is opening auxiliary offices at Decker Mall is to find folks for the former Olive Garden/Red Lobster buildings across the street.
Andrew
24 Oct 11 at 12:02 pm
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It was definitely a Hungry Bull, I can draw the red logo from memory. My parents would take us there for dinner every week or two while it was open. I don't remember when it closed and became something else. There was a Grandy's (chain) across the street not too far from the McDonald's (towards Richway), but it didn't last long, as I recall. Of course there was the wreckage of a restaurant that became Zorba's with the weird boat sticking out of it, I think it was a seafood place at one point. In Decker there was an Italian place that started delivering pizzas I thin it started with a T. They were next to the ETC shop which was one of the first places you could get real Cabbage Patch Kids. There was the go kart track, and then farther down towards Richway there was the (not long lived) skate park (all concrete).
Does anyone remember the Turkey Shoots they used to hold on the site of this old bank, then they would sell pumpkins and Christmas trees there? That was probably no later than 1980. The C&S was originally over on Two Notch.
The record store was Melody Music (I think). There was also an Olan Mills, a music store, and an arcade. It wasn't Aladdin's Castle, that was in the mall, but it was a place that also had tokens.
Definitely, a Hungry Bull. Don't forget, the McDonald's moved like 100ft over to accommodate the traffic flow change.
George Sartiano
7 Jul 17 at 10:27 pm
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~George Sartiano The Grandy's location across from Dent Middle School is @ where the Taco Bell is now.
The go cart track was across Trenholm from Dent @ where the abondoned bank and Burger King is now. I went there a few times as a kid.
The skate park that you mention (I went there is a small kid) was in what is now the parking lot of the strip mall on Decker where the Food Lion grocery store is currently. A Patrick Treadaway Ski Haus was built over it when the park was demolished in late '70s. The building is still there, but I believe it is a martial arts dojo of some sort and a brightly painted one at that.
I do not remember the turkey shoots.
If you are referring to the arcade in Decker Mall that Richway anchored, then it was the Land of Oz. Spent many a quarter in there. It was rather small compared to Alladin's Castle, but it did the job while mom was in Kroger, or Richway.
Did anyone ever go to the teen club Chances in the '80s at Decker Mall? They served Texas Light non-alchoholic "beer". lol...palmettoconnection
11 Jul 17 at 11:24 am
I could be wrong, but the building style not only screams BANK!, but it screams C&S BANK! built in the early-to-mid 80's. At the time I was living in Atlanta and only visited Columbia a few times a year, so I'm not sure if C&S was in the Columbia area at the time. But...that building looks like the eleventy-gazillion C&S branches that were all over metro Atlanta at the time.