Charleston to serve as lab for Clemson’s Restoration Institute

September 10, 2004 – Before anything new can be built almost anywhere, something else has to be fixed, preserved or restored. It’s the restoration economy – the revitalization of existing areas through new development — and it cuts across a wide range of interests, from health to hydrology, from materials engineering to historic preservation.

The newly formed Clemson University Restoration Institute will create a formal network of existing experts to tackle the demands of a growing economy based on restoration, starting in Charleston and fanning throughout the state, nation and beyond. It is the first formal academic organization of the restoration economy, according to Janice Schach, dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

The institute got a boost last week when a committee that dispenses state lottery money awarded Clemson $3 million of matching funds for the program.

“This brings together people with expertise in the natural and built environments, who work to preserve, maintain and rebuild the important places in South Carolina and the rest of the country. Clemson University has recognized this opportunity for advancing South Carolina’s economy through the creation of new knowledge,” Schach said. “Clemson is also one of only a few universities with the right mix of design, engineering and natural science in applied faculty expertise that can carry out this effort.”

The initiative will be centered in Charleston, where Clemson already has a related presence with its Charleston Architecture Center. The design process will begin this fall on a new building for the Charleston Architecture Center on George Street.

Charleston also will become home to a new graduate program in historic preservation, which is the only Clemson degree to be fully delivered in Charleston. Eventually, it will become a joint degree with the College of Charleston.

“Charleston is the perfect place to begin a national, and international, program based on the restoration economy,” Schach said. “This city established the nation’s first historic district and has long been a leader in preservation.”

The Clemson University restoration Institute will bring together experts and researchers in design, planning, construction management, real estate, historic preservation, business, tourism management, health, education, materials science, engineering, environmental science, forestry, soils, hydrology, horticulture, wood technology, toxicology and other relevant areas.

Three broad areas of inquiry initially will include the built environment, the natural environment, and the socioeconomic and cultural environment.