With the lot behind university housing up for auction, a bidding war has emerged to see who gains control of the Gregg area on Bluff Road.
The area has two primary bidders: the Vulcan Materials Company and the University of South Carolina Foundations.
Vulcan has expressed plans to build another quarry on the lot. Sustainable Midlands has come out lobbying against the quarry, saying that it could halt developmental growth that Columbia is going through.
“This area has seen a resurgence in business investment and residential housing, student housing,” Sustainable Midlands’ Executive Director Stephen Stokes said. “We’ve seen this become a cultural center and a desirable place, whereas in the past it’s been more industrial. The thought of opening a quarry right in the middle of that flies in the face of all the progress that this area has come.”
Sustainable Midlands has supported the university acquiring this land, saying that the university obtaining the lot would be beneficial to both the students and the community.
The university is planning to take the Gregg lot and turn it into intramural recreational fields. Also, a spokesman from the university said that they could turn the field into a driving range for the men and women’s golf team.
“Its our intention here to see that there is a happy balance between the community and the needs of the environment,” Stokes said. “If USC were to acquire the property, we want them to do with it what they will if it is in the best interest of the students and the residents of the area. I have no doubt that they are going to do what is in the best interest of the students.”
If a quarry were approved, the quarry would have to be made by placing dynamite into the ground. That would impact both football practice facilities on Bluff Road and the student apartment complexes due to the noise, shaking due to blasts and unsanitary conditions due to soot accumulation.
A doctor at the forum held Tuesday night said that if students and athletes were exposed to dust accumulation it could cause respiratory illness.
“That is a quality of life issue,” Stokes said. “We are really looking at trying to keep the momentum that we have already built in this area and keep moving in the right direction.”
According to Forbes, the city of Columbia has seen a 1.8 percent increase in job growth since 2013, and Stokes believes that if the city continues to undergo the same type of growth, that more restaurants and businesses will continue to move into that area.
He said that with a quarry in the middle of that expanding area, it would halt that growth.
“You’re starting to see more of a connectivity,” Stokes said. “When you look at trying to improve connectivity between students and visitors in Columbia, the more business open down there, the more restaurants and student housing that open up down there, it increases the connectivity.”
South Assembly Street is also undergoing change with the Columbia Blowfish moving out to Lexington and Kroger Supermarket moving into that space. Kroger is set to open its store with the possibility of building a small shopping center with it.
Stokes also said that a residential complex could be built around the supermarket as well.
“We are excited about the plan they have put forth; it has greatly changed from what it once was,” Stokes said. “It was once a suburban strip mall design and now has become more of a village shopping center design with some mixed-use design. It could become a centerpiece for the community because of its design and aesthetic appeal.”
The auction for the Gregg lot is scheduled for Sept. 18 and the winner of the auction will be awarded the space. Stokes said that every resident in that area, not just those involved with Sustainable Midlands, should be concerned about who wins that area because it affects everyone.
“This is something that directly impacts students,” Stokes said. “It is not just a neighborhood issue. It’s something that everyone from students from all the way up from residents in the community need to know about.”