Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, I had written a few paragraphs about the State Fair, mainly lamenting the demise of the Steel Building, had got it posted and even had a comment on the post when my whole database went *Kaflooey*!. Enjoy these pictures of the State Fair while I try to get back to a somewhat normal state..

UPDATE 28 October 2015

OK, I'm not going to be able to find the original text in google cache, so the post went something like this:

It turns out 2014 was the end of an era, though I didn't know it at the time. This year, the Steel Building which has been a central focus for the Fair for all of my life was gone. In its place is an open plaza called Hampton Plaza, this year the site of an animatronic exhibit called Enter The Dinosaurs. The function of the Steel Building has been largely picked up by a new building at the South wall called the Goodman Building. It houses many, though not all, of the exhibits and vendors typically in the Steel building, but seems designed to be slightly more upscale. The Cantey Building has been extensively reconfigured for the Art exhibit, and is now much better lit (and the upstairs arcade is unused). The flowers have moved across the corridor from the Ellison Building to the Cantey Building and most of the agricultural exhibits have made the opposite move.

Anyway, if you've followed my Fair posts, you know the kind of thing I like, and these pictures are more of it.

I'll also note that the Televac 86000 handwriting computer is still gone..

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I don't have an address for this old country store, but it is on Bluff Road, I believe somewhere near the National Park. The (Coke provided) sign has obviously been painted over a couple of times. This sort of faux roof-line seems to have been common for stores at one time.

Here's an old country store I ran across recently just south of where Bluff Road (SC-48) ends at US-601.

The sign claims it was founded in 1856, which would make it a fairly rare atebellum business still in operation until fairly recently. I think this particular building is much newer than that however -- to me it has kind of a 1920s look. The nearest landark I can find an actuall address for is St. Luke AME Church at 4990 McCords Ferry Road (US-601) which is probably about half a mile south of here.

I don't know when the place closed, but it is now surrounded by a fence so clearly there has been no customer access for a while.

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This delapidated bar is on Bluff Road just south of I-77 on the banks of Gills Creek next to the old Diamonds strip club. The whole area has had a lot of recent land clearing, and since I took these pictures, a real-estate sign has been put up on the property.

I didn't see any street number on the building and so wasn't able to google it to see exactly what it had been. I suspect that if I had gone in, some of the notices on the door or something else inside might have given me a clue, but from the state of the place I figured I would need a hard hat and steel toed shoes to be comfortable doing that.

Some of the bar fixtures and chairs are still in there, but the stuffed animals are something of a puzzle.

UPDATE 29 April 2014 -- I've updated the post title from "Bar" to "Grasshopper Club / Legion Hut / Vet's Hall".

Also, commenter BJ sends in this Vet's Hall playbill:

Now, there is not a year listed, but we know that 30 March fell on Friday in 2007, and that "Burns Out Bright" apparently debuted in 2004 and "Skull Baby" debuted in 2003, so I'm saying this has to be 30 March 2007 and not 30 March 2001 or 30 March 1990. Therefore, I'm updating the closing date to "circa 2007".

UPDATE 21 August 2014 -- This place is not long for the world, as a demolition order has been posted. Interestingly, given that we never came to a firm conclusion about the address of this place, the order gives it as 3001 Bluff Road, so that is what I am updating the post title to:

Photosets:

26 January 2014

There's a lot of land clearing going on in the Bluff Road area south of I-77 by Gills Creek, so I'm not sure how long this little wreck of a building will stay there, but apparently it was Bluff Road Paint And Body Shop. From the advanced state of decrepitude, it could have easily closed in the 1980s, but given that the sign is still there, I'll call it 1990s until I hear differently. Maybe I'll park and walk out to it as some point as well.

UPDATE 16 June 2014 -- A full photoset of a walk back into the property:

Tony's is a small breakfast and lunch operation on Bluff Road just South of I-77, in the Cricket Plaza.

I'm not sure from the sign if this is a permanent or temporary closing. And I'm not sure if the "construction" is Tony's specific, or refers to the general land clearing going on in the old Diamond's area right now.

UPDATE 13 May 2014 -- Now Creekside Cafe:

I happened to notice this vacant building driving down Bluff Road today (how it got behind the wheel, I'll never know..)

A bit of googling says that it was the location for RSC Equipment Rental for those times when you draw Fork Lift from the what to bring to the party list. Google suggests, and the fact that the RSC site now redirects to United Rentals seems to confirm that RSC merged with United, which is located a whole number down the street at 1500 Bluff Road.

I noticed this defunct strip club on Bluff Road the other day, on the west side of the road just south of the I-77 exit.

According to what I can find, it has been several clubs, the last of which Diamonds was in business as recently as 2009, but from the state of the building, nobody has done any maintenance since then. (Though it is still in better shape than Liquids).

The names raise some interesting questions. For instance, there was a Diamonds on Berryhill Road. Is there a connection? And: If this was Pleasers 2, where was Pleasers 1?

It is next door to a building even more decrepit about which I will try to find something out so I can eventually do a closing for it as well.

UPDATE 29 October 2012: Commenter tonkatoy says that back in the 70s, this was The Cricket Club. Bit of a sticky wicket, that!

Update 5 November 2012: Well one of the questions above is answered. Commenter BMJae says that the club was named Pleasers and then was closed due to fire, taking the name Pleasers 2 upon reopening after repair and remodel. I have added the name Pleasers to the post title.

Update 20 August 2014 -- This building is not long for the world, in fact it apparently was scheduled to be demolished on 12 August, but said demolition has not yet happened. Interestingly the demolition order gives the address as 3009 Bluff Road, which is not what I found previously with google (ie: 3028 Bluff Road), but it seems authoritative so I am changing the post title to reflect that. Also interestingly, the door was open..

(Folks coming in from the link at the CarnivalWarehouse.com forum, you may be interested in my pictures from previous South Carolina State Fairs -- Ted)

Well, as always, the South Carolina State Fair was a good time, with lots of beautiful art, greasy food, neon in motion and oddball retail. If you've read one of these posts before, don't expect anything particularly new this year; it's pretty much the same sights I usually enjoy capturing. I didn't submit anything for the art exhibition this year, so no pictures of the pre-Fair ceremony.

I've got a couple of videos I'll add later as soon as I can get them uploaded to youtube. In the meantime, enjoy!

UPDATE 27 October: First video (cablecars) is uploaded above.

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