Nondenominational Church in Hollywood, SC

HOLLYWOOD, S.C. (WCBD) – A mobile home that was left abandoned along Davison Road in the Town of Hollywood has been a source of frustration for some neighbors. After calling on town leaders to have the building removed – it’s finally happening.

Jerry Gray, who lives nearby, tells News 2 that after weeks of contacting officials, the towns of Hollywood and Ravenel will hire a local business to demolish the mobile home.

“They are waiting for the contractor to come back and give them a proposal, then legally dot the I’s and cross the t’s to make sure the owner of the home is okay with that action and that there is no liability against the two,” he said. “Very, very optimistic that with a little bit of caution, this thing is ultimately going to go away, and we won’t need to talk about it anymore.”

People who live in the area started to express their concerns after Charleston County posted a “do not occupy” sign on the side of the trailer. Neighbors also say the building is unsightly and could pose a threat to the environment.

The company that plans to demolish the trailer told News 2 the work could begin this week.

“Probably two to three days once we get started on it- just moving equipment here, taking our time getting unloaded, and getting things out of the way so we’re not in the way of traffic. But as far as getting a dumpster here … two to three days, probably, to finish it up,” said Mark and Nick Berry from Berry Demolition.

Hollywood Mayor Chardale Murray told News 2 on Friday that she is willing to work with whoever it takes to get the building removed.

It’s unclear how much removal of the abandoned trailer could cost the towns of Hollywood and Ravenel.

HOLLYWOOD, S.C. (WCSC) - A community resource center is now open in Hollywood and will serve people there with a variety of giveaways and programs right in the rural Charleston County town.

“This is the first time so people are excited. It’s a big deal,” Hollywood Mayor Chardale Murray says.

The Community Resource Center will provide food giveaways on the second Thursday of every month, baby care supplies, hygiene products, workforce certification and training and Molina Healthcare guidance.

Murray, the former state rep elected mayor earlier this year says this center is part of her vision for making life in Hollywood easier within town limits.

“You know, living in the city, you have meals on wheels, but that’s something to look into in the future for here. No, we don’t have things like that,” Murray says.

The 2020 census showed that about 5,300 people live in the town of Hollywood. Of that, 6.5 percent – or more than 350 are living below the poverty line.

Community Resource Director Louis Smith says many of them were traveling more than 20 miles to the North Charleston center to wait in an hours-long line to get food, baby supplies and hygiene necessities. At the opening of the Hollywood location, cars lined up for miles to get bags of food.

“You know when you put a lot of work into something and actually see it in front of you and it’s actually happening, this is incredible,” Smith says. “We’re in Hollywood, South Carolina, we have got traffic jams, and look at all the people. I am happy. A lot of people are going to have an amazing Christmas and we get to put a lot of smiles on a lot of chosen faces.”

Bundles of Joy also gave away diapers at the opening and will be doing so at future events in Hollywood. State Representative Wendell Gilliard and Hollywood Councilman Handy Miles Jr. attended the opening and helped hand out the food, saying it was a great day in Hollywood.

Darlene Dunmeyer-Roberson, Charleston County School board member for the district says this type of service will have far-reaching effects.

“For me healthy homes, healthy communities mean healthy classrooms. So, I am excited that our mayor had this vision to bring the resources here to Hollywood and I look forward to the students in District 23 excelling in the classroom because we are now a vibrant community that’s not left behind,” Dunmeyer-Roberson says.

Murray says that’s another driving force behind her efforts to bring services inside the town limits.

“Just being from a rural area and I’m homegrown, I know how important is when it comes to transportation,” Murray says. “People are limited in you know, it’s just a need, people are on a fixed income. You’d be surprised how many people even in the summertime when school is out, they don’t have you know, lunch, the kids are not being served.”

She says the center is only the start of the things she and the council are working on for the future of the town.

The Hollywood Community Resource Center is located at the old library at 5151 Town Council Rd.

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With the closing credits rolling to Hollywood’s biggest labor fight in decades, production work on South Carolina film projects are expected to resume soon.

The long-awaited resolution was reached overnight on Nov. 8, nearly four months after film and television actors went on strike.

The proposed three-year contract still must be approved by the board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and its members in the coming days.

But union leadership declared in a written statement that the strike ended shortly after midnight Thursday. It put the value of the new contact at more than $1 billion.

“Outer Banks” co-creator and Executive Producer Jonas Pate told The Post and Courier that work will be “starting up immediately” but declined to elaborate. Filming for the series, which began in May, was initially expected to wrap at the end of this year in preparation for an early 2024 release. It’s unclear how the 118-day walkout will affect the schedule.

The S.C. Film Office said it expects that the show will resume filming in South Carolina in December.

Linda Lee, president of the Carolina Film Alliance board of directors, said Thursday that the pending labor deal “hopefully means we’ll be back to work soon.” She said that while many fully backed the strike, the last few months have been financially difficult for most workers in the industry.

“Everyone is just waiting to see what happens,” Lee said.

She also cautioned that the holidays could cause further delays in ramping production back up on a number of projects.

Matt Storm, director of the S.C. Film Commission, said numerous projects around the Palmetto State were affected, from small independent films to high-profile productions

“Since most productions were paused, it’s hard to know at this point how much that has shifted their timelines,” he said.

During the strike, Storm said, the commission, which is part of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, held workshops and training in the Upstate to prepare more local residents for employment once projects resume.

Historic Charleston Foundation, with its recent reversal of the controversial decision to sell one of its homes after an outpouring of opposition, is making another pivotal move.

The preservation group plans to close its nearly four-decade-old gift shop at 108 Meeting St. on the lower peninsula by the end of February as part of its multiyear strategic plan to focus on its two museum properties and advocacy issues in the Lowcountry, according to CEO Winslow Hastie.

Hastie also pointed to the changing consumer landscape as a reason to shutter the 4,500-square-foot store that was once a gas station.

“Retail is a very volatile world, and it’s changed dramatically since (the shop) first started in the late 1980s,” he said.

The foundation opened a second retail space in 2011 in the City Market, a few blocks north of the Meeting Street gift shop, to capitalize on tourist-heavy foot traffic. The proximity of the two retail outlets is no longer ideal, Hastie said.

“The need for that amount of space is not really necessary,” he said of the soon-to-be-darkened site.

Retail

The foundation ideally hopes to lease the commercially zoned property, which is between Chalmers and Queen streets, as offices for a government agency or a professional services firm. Hastie doesn’t see the building as a good fit for restaurant or retail uses. He added the foundation would adamantly oppose any effort toward transforming the T-shaped structure into an inn.

“We will have restrictive covenants on the property,” he said. “It also doesn’t have parking. Any user will have to get creative on parking.”

The foundation acquired the property in 1986 from Exxon Corp. after paying $207,000, according to Charleston County land records. It made a few changes to the site, including the construction of a connection between the former storefront and the rear garage bays, but the building’s exterior, with its Colonial revival architectural features, remains intact.

The existing design came about to help the 1930s-built gas station blend into the surrounding historic neighborhood. When Exxon-predecessor Standard Oil decided to build the service station on the property, it demolished three historic homes built between 1782 and 1805 in 1929, stirring Charleston’s preservation movement to life.

Founded in 1947, Historic Charleston Foundation now wants to focus its attention on broader advocacy issues such as land use, development, tourism management, sea-level rise and settlement communities. It also hopes to expand its affordable housing-focused Common Cause Loan Fund that helps make home repairs for longtime city residents.

The decision to darken the retail shop is part of the recommendations in the group’s multiyear strategic plan, which included the decision late last year to sell the Nathaniel Russell House it owns down the street at 51 Meeting.

The group reversed its decision earlier this month after a public outcry, including a petition with thousands of signatures opposing the sale to a private entity.

“It’s been a rough couple of months,” Hastie said. “We are in a better place now.”

The foundation plans to keep its gift shop in the City Market as well as retail outposts in the Nathaniel Russell House and the group’s historic Aiken-Rhett House on Elizabeth Street in the Wraggborough neighborhood. The group also will focus on online sales more to generate revenue for its Lowcountry-centric products such as china, jewelry and home decor items.

HOLLYWOOD, S.C. (WCBD) – A mobile home that was left abandoned along Davison Road in Hollywood could be removed in the near future thanks to actions taken by the surrounding towns.

Residents said the mobile home has become an eyesore; it’s been there for so long it now appears on Google Maps. But what you won’t see on Google Maps is that the trailer is still furnished.

On Thursday, Ravenel Mayor Stephen Tumbleston said he is working with Hollywood Mayor Chardale Murray to create a timeline for a speedy demolition and removal of the trailer. Tumbleston said once the owner of the trailer signs an approval letter, the towns will work together to remove it.

“We’re waiting on that letter to come back executed with a signature, and then we’ve solicited bids and we will partner with Hollywood on getting it out. And just as soon as we get the document back from the owner, court cases and all that aside, we’ll get it cleaned up, we’ll get it moved out,” said Mayor Tumbleston.

News 2 spoke with the crew working to help remove the trailer, Berry Demolition. Once they are given the go-ahead, the process of removing the trailer will take 2 to 3 days. After the demolition crew surveyed the area, like many, they agree it must go.

“I mean its definitely got to go, needs demolishing that’s all. There’s probably no saving it and moving it again from now, so yeah it definitely has to be torn down and moved from here,” said one crew member.

Over in Hollywood, newly elected Mayor Murray is still getting settled into office, but said that won’t stop her from doing what she can to have the trailer removed from Davison Road.

“That feels good you know, to know that this trailer has been sitting out here almost two months. My word is my bond. I called the Mayor of Ravenel and when I called him he said ‘Hey we got to do whatever we can to do to make this happen’ and here it is,” said Mayor Murray.

Concerned resident, Jerry Gray, who first told News 2 about the trailer, says he’s happy to see progress being made.

“If you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a clue. Ideally, a plan is being formulated. That’s why I say I’m optimistic with a little dose of caution,” said Gray.

News 2 will continue following this story as the community awaits the removal.

Parents, activists, school board members and community members got together at St. Luke's AME Church in Hollywood to discuss ways to rally behind Charleston County School District Superintendent Eric Gallien. (WCIV)

HOLLYWOOD, S.C. (WCIV) — Parents, activists, school board members and community members got together at St. Luke's AME Church in Hollywood the evening of Oct. 17 to discuss ways to rally behind Charleston County School District (CCSD) Superintendent Eric Gallien.

Monday's meeting was the latest in a series of community meetings that have been happening across Charleston County since Gallien was put on paid administrative leave by the Board of Trustees in late September.

Ahead of the community meeting, it was revealed the board will meet the following afternoon to review a possible settlement and release of Gallien.

"It makes me really sad and very concerned about how we are going to proceed forward with good, solid leadership in Charleston County schools," said board member Carol Tempel, one of the four supporting Dr. Gallien.

The news was upsetting to board members like Tempel and community members in the Hollywood area who say they’re still learning about the situation.

"If he can do what we need done in the school district, allow him to do it," community member Lisa Jenkins said. "Not continue to stall the progress that we are making for our students."

Monday's meeting was organized by Movement 400, the group of activists working to get Dr. Gallien back in his office. Group leaders reiterated they believe the board is acting out of line.

"The board thinks it's the superintendent and they cannot be both," Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III said. "You cannot be the board and the superintendent. They want to do both and we’re not going to let them do it."

Movement 400 says even if Gallien is released on Tuesday, the group's work would continue.

"The reason we got started was not just for Dr. Gallien," Rivers said. "We got started because of the injustice of the board against black children, poor children, brown children, and just people."

Tempel says she never thought this controversy would get to the point of releasing the superintendent.

"I really felt that the cause for leave was really unjustified," she said. "I believed it was subject to investigation, of course, but not to put him on paid administrative leave."

Tempel and fellow board members Darlene Roberson and Courtney Waters read a letter to the crowd written by Gallien.

In the letter, the superintendent wrote that after conversations with his family and medical advisors, he is requesting to "immediately withdraw (the) proposal for a separation with CCSD as the superintendent."

"I've come to realize that the sacred trust our community has placed in me is something I cannot turn my back on," Gallien wrote.

Movement 400 says they plan to be at Tuesday night's special board meeting to continue to show support for Gallien and the districts students.

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at 75 Calhoun Street.