News 12 at 6 o'clock -- Monday, September 6, 2010

AIKEN, S.C. -- Back in the 1930's, the front of what is now the Aiken County Complex was the Aiken nurses home.

Now with talk of tearing it down, it's historic value is up for debate among city leaders.

If it's not deemed historic it could be demolished making way for a new complex, but city and county leaders could give more than just the county complex a new home.

"I was actually born in this building," Aiken County Historical Society President Allen Riddick said.

Riddick's mom was a nurse in the building too, he said. Those are memories he doesn't want demolished, in order to make way for a new county complex.

"If you keep tearing down these old buildings that have character, you're not going to have nothing left," Riddick said. "You'll have a bunch of new buildings that don't mean anything to anybody."

The building's historic meaning is now in the hands of the City of Aiken's Design Review Board.
County Council members were told by an architecture firm in June that renovating it would cost more than building a new one.

"The county could use this front part and then they could add on to the back wherever they needed there's plenty of space in the back," Riddick said.

And there could be even more space in the back, if the County Council buys this former Coca-Cola Plant, possibly making it the new home for Aiken County Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

"I think that would be a great move," Riddick said. "It would give them more space and it would give the county even more storage over there."

The building's asking price is $895,000.

The County Council Chairman Ronnie Young tells News 12 it would give EMS a place to do on-site training, more space to better maintain trucks and respond to emergencies plus more storage for the county.

"It's not necessarily historic but it does have a little age and it would be nice," Riddick said about the former Coca-Cola plant. "If you can save it, why not save it?"

He feels the same way about the his birth place because he says it's what makes his birth city what it is.

"That's one of the big drawing cards to Aiken," Riddick said. "It does have a history and a past. If we keep tearing down our past, we're not going to have anything."

The City of Aiken's Design Review Board will meet to discuss if the Aiken County Complex is historically significant or not, Tuesday at 6:30 P.M. at the City Council building.

As for the former Coca-Cola plant, the County Council wants to hear public input on possibly buying it, Tuesday at 6 P.M. at the County Council building.