A Municipal Government Complex For Anderson, South Carolina
Abstract
The manuscript serves primarily as documentation of the writer's thought processes and of the identification of major influences leading to the final conceptual design proposal for the development of a Three-Phase public facility program and to the final solution to the problems of the Municipal Government Complex. Anderson, South Carolina, is suffering many ill effects as a result of a long period of poorly regulated growth. Two governmental structures, the Anderson County Courthouse and the Anderson City Hall are prime examples, as both are antiquated and inadequate to house appropriate functions. Finding that several attempts at consolidation of these facilities had been thwarted in the past and assured by government officials that no such attempt was forthcoming, it became the writer's objective to understand these problems and to provide an architectural solution, in detail, only for a Municipal Government Complex. The Anderson Historic District, located in close proximity to several sites being considered, became an important factor in a phased public facility program proposed by the writer. The strong need in the city for a Civic Auditorium or Civic Center also strongly influenced the conceptual proposal. The problems confronting the Anderson Historic District those causing the decay of the Anderson Central Business District, and those confronting the development of a new governmental facility are closely inter-related. A totally barrier-free public facility complex, linked by a predestrian mall, is proposed to be completed in three phases. Both would be an integral part of the Historic District. The development of the pedestrian mall would be closely controlled by proposed zoning regulations, which are designed to preserve and enhance the image of the Anderson Historic District. Phase I of the proposal in the construction of a new Municipal Government Complex. Phase II is the development of a County Court Complex. The pedestrial mall that connects the two would provide a buffer between the Central Business District and the Historic District and preserving for posterity the values displayed by the Historic District. Phase II is the development of a Civic Center, the third major public facility to be located on the pedestrain spine. The architectural solution to the problems of the Municipal Government Complex is then discussed in detail.