Cherokee County leaders said they are figuring out the unknowns after Limestone University announced it will be closing its doors for good.Cherokee County Administrator Merv Bishop, a Limestone University alum, said he and the county council were shocked when the university announced its closure.”For us, you would love to have been able to help them in their situation, but the South Carolina Constitution is very — there’s no interpretation,” Bishop said. “No public funds to help out for a private institution.”Bishop said the school’s closure after 179 years has raised questions about what to do with the buildings on campus as well as the land it stands on. “We’ll do anything that we can for the economic impact,” Bishop said. “You would treat it just like we do anything for our economic development, trying to get the right sources into that facility, so that it continues to be useful.”He said multiple government agencies will likely begin conversations in the near future.”Our school district, the city of Gaffney, I think it’s going to be something that probably not just one organization or just one entity,” Bishop said. “I think for us, we’ve got to come together and say, ‘We have this piece of land. We have this nice facility here. What can Cherokee County continue to do with it?’ There’s a lot of unknowns right now, and I wish I had an answer for that.”The Cherokee County School District Thursday night unanimously approved a motion to authorize the interim superintendent “to explore and proceed with negotiations regarding potential purchase or acquisition of real estate and other property associated with Limestone University.”While officials begin discussing their next steps for the campus, other colleges are providing opportunities for Limestone University students, including Erskine College in Abbeville County.”We’re offering $25,000 per year for however many years that they attend Erskine,” said Brianne Holmes, the college’s director of marketing and communications. “We’re both small private schools, so there’s a lot of kinship there between our institutions. We definitely sympathize with the students and really feel for what they’re going through right now.”Bishop said the county is interested in preserving some of the campus’s historical buildings, such as the Curtis Building, which has been in use since the university was founded.”That whole area of College Drive is in the historical district, so I mean, it’s a give and take that’s going to be very, very important,” Bishop said.
Cherokee County leaders said they are figuring out the unknowns after Limestone University announced it will be closing its doors for good.
Cherokee County Administrator Merv Bishop, a Limestone University alum, said he and the county council were shocked when the university announced its closure.
“For us, you would love to have been able to help them in their situation, but the South Carolina Constitution is very — there’s no interpretation,” Bishop said. “No public funds to help out for a private institution.”
Bishop said the school’s closure after 179 years has raised questions about what to do with the buildings on campus as well as the land it stands on.
“We’ll do anything that we can for the economic impact,” Bishop said. “You would treat it just like we do anything for our economic development, trying to get the right sources into that facility, so that it continues to be useful.”
He said multiple government agencies will likely begin conversations in the near future.
“Our school district, the city of Gaffney, I think it’s going to be something that probably not just one organization or just one entity,” Bishop said. “I think for us, we’ve got to come together and say, ‘We have this piece of land. We have this nice facility here. What can Cherokee County continue to do with it?’ There’s a lot of unknowns right now, and I wish I had an answer for that.”
The Cherokee County School District Thursday night unanimously approved a motion to authorize the interim superintendent “to explore and proceed with negotiations regarding potential purchase or acquisition of real estate and other property associated with Limestone University.”
While officials begin discussing their next steps for the campus, other colleges are providing opportunities for Limestone University students, including Erskine College in Abbeville County.
“We’re offering $25,000 per year for however many years that they attend Erskine,” said Brianne Holmes, the college’s director of marketing and communications. “We’re both small private schools, so there’s a lot of kinship there between our institutions. We definitely sympathize with the students and really feel for what they’re going through right now.”
Bishop said the county is interested in preserving some of the campus’s historical buildings, such as the Curtis Building, which has been in use since the university was founded.
“That whole area of College Drive is in the historical district, so I mean, it’s a give and take that’s going to be very, very important,” Bishop said.