Surrounded by memorabilia of his political heyday in his Park Circle home, John Bourne points to a photo of himself being sworn in as North Charleston's first mayor by then-Gov. John West.
"That was one of the best days of my life," the man who founded the city said.
Getting to that best day was not easy though, and Bourne, now 80, still remembers details of how the area became a city in 1972.
Sustainability Institute Introduces New Green Building Directory for Region
The North Charleston-based, non-profit Sustainability Institute of South Carolina is introducing the first-ever SC Green Building Directory, an online database of sustainable products and services within a 500-mile radius of the Institute.
Former Navy base's post office reborn after being saved from demolition
As the Charleston Naval Base kicked into high gear during World War II, the U.S. Navy built a large concrete building to serve as the base's post office.
Natural Home magazine named the Navy Yard at Noisette in North Charleston as one of the nation’s Top 10 – America’s Best Green Built Neighborhoods, in the publication’s January/February 2008 issue. The honor follows a 2004 article in Natural Home, in which Editor in Chief Robyn Griggs Lawrence featured North Charleston in “Can this City be greened?” Four years later, projects like Oak Terrace Preserve, managed by the Noisette Company for the City of North Charleston, and plans for massive infrastructure improvements and work-live lofts have landed Noisette and North Charleston a top 10 listing in the magazine.
2007 Marks Major Progress towards Sustainable Community
The year 2007 marked major progress towards establishing North Charleston’s 3,000-acre Noisette Community as South Carolina’s most sustainable city. The sustainable revitalization in North Charleston’s historic core, and the future of the Navy Yard at Noisette, are luring new, entrepreneurial businesses to the East Montague business district and the Navy Yard, indications that the guidelines of the Noisette Community Master Plan are molding a sustainable future for North Charleston.
Lowcountry HUB Contractor Business Academy Heralds
NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (December 18, 2007) – The Lowcountry HUB Contractor Business Academy celebrated the graduation of its 3rd class on Tuesday, December 18 at 6:00 PM at 10 Storehouse Row, the Navy Yard at Noisette. The December graduating class of the Lowcountry HUB (Historically Underutilized Businesses) Academy has 18 specialty contractors who represent a cross-section of minority business people in the regional building industry.
National Prisoner Re-Entry Pilot Program Graduates
(North Charleston, SC, December 5 2007) – In a statement released earlier today, the Noisette Foundation announced that eleven (11) graduates of the Lowcountry Civic Justice Corps (LCJC), part of a pilot national prisoner re-entry program, have completed five months of service with AmeriCorps. The Fall 2007 LCJC graduation will be held at 10 Storehouse Row, located at the Navy Yard at Noisette. The graduation is an invitation-only event, due to space limitations, but an open house will be held at 2354 Kent Ave. from 11am-1pm to showcase the construction skills of the LCJC.
Movers & Shakers: Interview with Noisette CEO John Knott
The current edition of the CRBJ’s Movers & Shakers features a video interview with Noisette CEO John L. Knott, Jr., on the concepts and planning that went into the inception of the Noisette master plan, and the Navy Yard at Noisette.
There’s a new player in the home building industry, stirring up conversation in communities across America. Stylish, healthy, high-performing and perfectly suited to any lifestyle – today’s modern green home is the envy of every other home on the block.
For anyone in North Charleston who has not caught the current edition of Charleston Magazine, the headline story by Stephanie Hunt features eco-friendly, sustainable entrepreneurs, developers and businesses throughout North Charleston. Is North Charleston becoming South Carolina’s most sustainable city? Judge for yourself in this current edition of Charleston.
North Charleston – South Carolina’s Most Sustainable City?
As sustainability explodes into the mainstream, communities throughout South Carolina are embracing concepts for green, ecologically-sensitive development. In the flood of publicity, the pioneering role of the City of North Charleston has been pivotal to bringing green to the Lowcountry. Is North Charleston fast becoming South Carolina’s most sustainable city?
Annual Beach Sweep-River Sweep Clears Noisette Creek Preserve
Noisette Creek Preserve, site of a 145-acre eco-restoration, was the beneficiary of a major clean-up on September 15, part of the annual Beach Sweep-River Sweep event held throughout the Lowcountry. Approximately 40 volunteers toiled in the Noisette Preserve, which consists of Noisette Creek, the mouth of the creek and Riverfront Park at the Navy Yard. Nearly 70 bags of litter and debris from the Preserve were gathered, and disposed of, during the event.
A Living Lab: Students work to clean, study Noisette Creek
When Katy Metzner-Roop’s marine biology class began working on Noisette Creek in North Charleston three years ago, it found everything from plas tic bottles to toilets floating in the water that flows through the former Navy base.
Metzner-Roop, who teaches at the Academic Magnet High School, had participated in river cleanups before. “You’re really not surprised at what people will dump,” she said.
Standing out as a punctuation point in the expanse of the North Charleston Riverfront Park is the new Boardwalk, recently completed by The Noisette Company under contract with the City. Although the Boardwalk’s 800 linear feet grabs the eye of every visitor to the park, a seemingly untold story lies in the eco-friendly innovations of the structure’s Breakwater System, just below the pedestrian venue.
Imagine the roads and walkways of Greenville paved with pervious materials built over eco-friendly water filtering systems.
Or native plants growing from bio swales in the landscape consume pollutants from rainwater and rooftops along Greenville’s river district spilling over with lush green flora and fauna.
Recent visits from high-profile brass from Washington, D.C., have resulted in high-dollar contracts for the S.C. Research Authority and an enhanced reputation for the state overall.
The back-to-back visits by Rear Adm. Jay Cohen, undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology division and former chief of the Office of Naval Research, and Rear Adm. William
Landay, who succeeded Cohen at ONR, coincided with the annual Homeland Security Innovation Conference held in February at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in Goose Creek."We've been a long-standing provider of services to Naval Research,"said SCRA's CEO Bill Mahoney. "We felt particularly honored to have those guys here."
Job Posting for the next Noisette Foundation President
Job Description
PRESIDENT
Employed by: Board of Directors
Immediate Supervisor: Chairman of the Board
Status: Regular Exempt Full-Time Employee
Administers: Staff of 2, plus 8 VISTA volunteers: Fund Development, Finance, Grants, Programs & Initiatives, Communications.
CURRENT OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW:
As one of the largest sustainable urban renewal projects in the world, North Charleston, SC-based Noisette Company is transforming 340 acres and the surrounding communities on the beautiful Cooper River into a shining example of Sustainable Urban Restoration that addresses the economic, environmental and social health of the community long-term. With thousands of businesses and residents moving to Noisette in the coming years, the Noisette Foundation has been formed with the vision of being the community steward for social justice, the surrounding environment, education, health, and the arts.
A key element in the Noisette Community Master Plan, the Foundation helps to create a life-long learning community through arts initiatives, promoting schools as center of the community, internships and other efforts to restore social health. By design, the Foundation will grow significantly in the coming years through tax increment financing, transfer taxes and other elements that have been built into the Noisette Plan, creating tens of millions of dollars in funding for programs, outreach, and environmental recovery. The Noisette Foundation is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and encourages applications from candidates of any race and ethnic background.
Governed by a 12-member Board of Directors, the Foundation’s goals are to:
• inspire and assist the improvement of local schools;
• break cycles of under education, chronic poverty and incarceration;
• improve the quality of life by helping area residents to recognize their ability to organize and to address persistent community problems; and
• to foster an awareness and celebration of local arts and culture.
To learn more about the Noisette Foundation, please visit www.noisettefoundation.org.
Plato had a knack for wise observations, including, "Necessity is the mother of invention." More than 2,300 years later, many people are now observing the necessity of developing alternative energy sources. One of them, Dean Schmelter, is even opening a Southeast Biodiesel plant to produce low-polluting, relatively low-cost fuel by recycling vegetable oil from area restaurants.
No Smooth Sailing for Noisette Creek Plan: $30M Waterway, Marsh Restoration Facing Many Hurdles
The Noisette Company has just released a comprehensive plan for a 20-year, $30 million project to restore what is perhaps the most abused and overlooked wetland in the Lowcountry. But as he watched a great egret preen above an alternately scenic and blighted stretch of old Cosgrove Avenue in North Charleston, project manager Jim Augustin said he knows the plan faces considerable hurdles.
Cool art in an equally cool space defines 10 Storehouse Row, a newly renovated urban hub for artists and design professionals.
Located in North Charleston on the old Navy base, 10 Storehouse Row boasts urban decor and varied eclectic art, which make this the place to be for artists and art lovers alike.
A new business education initiative designed to address a shortage of minority contractors in the Charleston region has graduated its first class.
Of the 17 building industry professionals who enrolled in the program, 14 completed the more than three months of night courses organized by the Lowcountry Historically Underutilized Business Academy Consortium.
Patricia Warner sits in her 300 square feet of rented office space at the Building Arts and Design Center on the former Charleston Naval Base and stares out the window into a naturally lit hallway.
'This space is inspirational,' the Charleston designer-artist said. 'It's like a mini-Main Street. They have put a lot of thought into blending business with art. It's a sustainable way to look at what man has already done instead of plowing up more of nature.'
Lowcountry Biodiesel: Plant to Turn Waste Vegetable Oil into Fuel
The Lowcountry's first biodiesel plant will be built in an unused warehouse on the former Navy base, creating a local source of nontoxic, low-cost fuel that can be used in nearly any diesel engine and marking a further advance in what's been a largely backyard industry in South Carolina.
Clemson Outlines North Charleston Campus: University Envisions Restoring Buildings on Former Navy Base
Clemson University wants to lure private businesses to the former Charleston Naval Base and restore two of its most historic buildings as part of a 30-year plan for a Lowcountry restoration institute.
Project Spotlight: Noisette Office and Urban Alliance Studio
The South Carolina chapter of the US Green Building Council was one of the first to recognize the Noisette Company, LLC, and Noisette Urban Alliance Studios for obtaining the first USGBC Pilot Program LEED-CI (commercial interiors) certification in South Carolina. The LEED-CI program addresses design and construction sustainability for existing structures in order to create greener living and working spaces. Keith Sanders, president of the SC Chapter, believes the Noisette certification, “Brings green renovation to the mainstream of existing buildings, setting the new standard for green restoration there are roughly 80 times as many existing buildings than new structures that can be upgraded to green standards.”
On the heels of the Newsweek announcement, North Charleston-based Post & Courier reporter Nadine Parks chronicled local reaction to the Academic Magnet High School’s selection as the tenth leading high school in the United States. The honor created a buzz around the AMHS, as one faculty member was quoted as saying, “When you’re at that level of performance, you have to really look outside of the state and say, ‘That may be great for us, but how do we match up nationally?’ This report answers that question.”
Congratulations to North Charleston Elementary School - SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION NEWS Facility of the Month!
North Charleston Elementary School has been selected as Facility of the Mnth for a feature article in School Construction News. Congratulations to the Charleston County School District on establishing a nationally recognized model for building and education excellence!
Blight giving way to light in lower North Charleston
Adam and Amy Kaylor at first didn't consider building their new home in North Charleston's blighted southern end, with its reputation for crime and drugs.
But they realized the city's image is slowly changing.
A lot can be learned at the new North Charleston Elementary School without even stepping foot inside a class.
That's because the architects, contractors and school district committed to making the school an environmental model.
N. Charleston celebrates in style: Independence Day festivities staged in new Riverfront Park
Seven-year-old Genesis Pratt grabbed a piece of pink chalk and took off, surveying the amphitheater wall at North Charleston's Riverfront Park for a blank section to leave her artistic mark during the park's Fourth of July grand opening.
Nine years after Charleston Naval Base closed and gave birth to the vision of a waterfront park for North Charleston, the dream is about to become a reality.
Building arts college plans to use redone warehouse
The American College of the Building Arts will move into a renovated warehouse on the former Charleston Naval Base, serving as the anchor tenant in what the Noisette Co. hopes will become a lively mix of artists' studios, offices for architects and designers, a restaurant and coffee bar.
Navy base land deal is struck: N. Charleston, SPA set stage for development
Racing to meet a federal deadline, the State Ports Authority and the city of North Charleston on Friday divided up the remaining land at the city's former Navy Base, including a highly contaminated section that would cost millions to clean up.
The land is vital to the Noisette Co.'s proposed residential development and is linked to the SPA's plans to build a new $600 million terminal elsewhere on the old base.
John Bourne first came to what is now North Charleston in 1944 as a left end with the Conway High School Tigers' football team.
"I didn't think I would ever come back," the Pee Dee native remembered as he recently drove past the football field on East Montague Avenue. "They tore us up."
But Bourne did come back — in 1949 — and a huge part of the metropolitan area eventually changed forever because of him.
