Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This secluded Cayce spot has featured here before (albeit apparent
ly with the wrong street address) and 2108 State carried on with the Lizard Man tradition.

I'll admit this corner is so far off my radar that it never even crossed my mind to stop here when I wasn't in direct visual c
ontact with the place, but apparently it was pretty good. There Facebook page i
s still up for now, and if you should want to buy the building, LoopNet has you covered.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandon Barkley)

UPDATE 12 April 2017 -- As reported, now a Henry's:

Another day, another Radio Shack.

This is the one in Parkland Plaza in Cayce, and is another casualty of the chain's bankruptcy.

UPDATE 14 March 2015 -- Gone:

The first phonebook listing I find for The Tremont Motor Inn is in the July 1958 book where the address is given simply as Hwy No 21 Cayce and the phone number is the old style AL 4-5121.

Later phonebooks would give the address with more specificity as 111 Knox Abbott Drive and update the phone number to 254-5121.

From its inception through 1984 the Tremont did not purchase a Yellow Page ad. In fact, the first one that I saw was in the February 1985 phonebook. This one, pictured above, gave the new phone number as 796-6240, indicating, I believe, a change of ownership.

The last listing I saw for the Tremont was in the February 1994/1995 phonebook. This was followed by the first listing for the Riverside Inn in the February 2002/2003 book, leaving an eight year gap. I presume the building was run under another flag during those years, but I would have to consult a city directory to find what it was, and did not have time on my last visit to the library.

The building was in a great location on a large property close to the river with a park-like expanse of walking paths, and I suppose it was quite nice for many years. Unfortunately, by the time my cousin booked a room in the fall of 2013 (to be close to USC for some seminars), she found it dirty and run-down to the point that she felt unsafe.

The actual tear down was quite leisurely, extending over a period of about four months. On my initial walk-through, I was unsure how much of the property was actually the motel, as there were some buildings out back that appeared to be in use by other businesses, but in the event it appears everything was demolished. For some reason, every time I went out to get pictures, I either got there late just as the sun was fading, or the day would be heavily overcast. There are a few bright shots, but that was the exception.

I'm not quite sure what the green carpeted area by the pool was. It almost looked like the motel had a little putting green, but I didn't see a hole there. Of course now the whole place is more or less a hole...

29 September 2014:

7 October 2014:

29 November 2014:

26 December 2014:

UPDATE 2 February 2015 -- Commenter TahoeChic pointed out an old Tremont postcard on Ebay, which I have bought and scanned, putting the image at the top of the page. Notice the differences in the property from the time of the postcard (which gives the "AL" prefix phone number, so it probably dates from the early 1960s) to now. For instance the big roadside sign was gone, the short brick wall along Knox Abbott drive had yet to be build, there was a canopy in the parking lot, the pool area was not enclosed and had a diving board, and it does not appear the the final front-office building had been built.

Commenter fourlizards found a Tremont key and took a picture, I have added that under the postcard.

Photosets:

Photoset 28 September 2014

Photoset 7 October 2014

Photoset 19 October 2014

Photoset 29 November 2014

Photoset 26 December 2014

Commenter MrBill points out the Cayce "Arby's" is "temporarily closed".

I can't add any explanation to that, but I can say that there were staff inside, busily doing *something*, so I would expect that this closing really is temporary, unlike many so announced.

(Hat tip to commenter MrBill)

UPDATE 25 November 2014: Commenter Andrew reports this place as open again, so I have updated the post title to reflect that.

UPDATE 17 February 2023: Updating tags and adding map icon.

Did somebody ram the Cayce Krispy Kreme sign? It sure looks like it to me.

This day spa on the State Street side of Parkland Plaza looks like it was closing down in September of 2012, with new hours posted, and a fairly empty room inside.

By November, the window signage was down (though the marquee was still up), and the whole storefront was vacant.

UPDATE 17 November 2014 -- Now Venus Nail & Spa:

A new apartment complex is coming to a premier setting on Cayce’s riverfront.

Plans for a complex of about 230 units near the Blossom Street bridge have received initial approval from Cayce City Council.

The site provides a prime view both of the Congaree River and the skyline of downtown Columbia to the east.

The project would extend along Knox Abbott Drive from Axtell Drive to the city’s Riverwalk, replacing Monterrey Mexican Restaurant and the Riverside Inn, which are across the street from Guignard Park.

Monterrey Knox Abbott are now closed and are working on their new location in the old Zeus Pizza location in Parkland Plaza (not Parklane Plaza). I believe this location started as a Denny's, though according to Monterrey's closing sign, they were here for 26 years, which is no small run for a restaurant.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I was going to wait until I got over to the area again to get some pictures of the abandoned old location, and the new location in operation, but that didn't happen this weekend, and there's been a lot of Taco Cid talk here lately, so I'll go ahead with what I've got.

Longtime local Mexican fast-food restaurant Taco Cid has moved from their Cayce location near Piggy Park and out to Airport Tec Plaza at 3313 Platt Springs Road.

They have moved into the old Marino's Bistro location and are now open, though they have not yet replaced the Marino's marquee.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike)

UPDATE 21 August 2014 -- Here is the Charleston Highway location after closure:

UPDATE 10 March 2017 -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this building is going to pot:

UPDATE 30 August 2022: Well, color me surprised. I thought the Charleston Highway Taco Cid building was beyond salvage, but somebody has managed it, and it is now open as Perry's Gourmet Flaming Grilled Chicken!

(Also updating tags and adding map icon).

As usual, when I'm trying to shoot against the sun, the results aren't pretty, but this Piggly Wiggly on the Charleston Highway near the I-77/I-26 interchange is on the way out -- in fact, it may actually be closed at this point.

When I took these shots on 3 August 2014, the store was mostly still in full operation. There were a few signs that they were trying to sell off the whole stock, but really, if you had gone for most any normal grocery item, you would have found it and the discounts were pretty modest (I believe most signs said 20%, but only to Pig cardmembers).

With this closure, I'm not quite sure where the nearest replacement store is. There's an IGA in Gaston, but the Reid's which would have been the nearest store in the other direction recently closed as well.

Of course, the new State Farmers' Market is quite nearby for adventurous souls.

UPDATE 21 August 2014 -- The place is now closed:

UPDATE 14 December 2021 -- After seven years, this store is still vacant:

Also adding a map icon.

Artsy Fartsy art gallery and coffee bar was one of those places I never could figure out in that I never actually saw it open, but yet it never closed either (though it seems to have rebooted several times). I like coffee, so I was prepared to stop if I ever *did* see it open, but somehow that never happened.

It looks like the place will be rezoned for a thrift store.