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By Sarah Ellis

The State

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥� Columbia’s old Rosewood Baptist Church may never not look like a church.

This fall, when residents move into new apartments inside the half-century-old sanctuary, they’ll set their dining tables beneath 40-foot arched windows once filled by colorful stained glass. Their decor will be flanked by the building’s dark oak panels; some will have the white-painted cinder-block walls of former Sunday school classrooms. Someone’s living room will sit roughly in the footprint of the former baptismal pool.

And one unique apartment will boast a 20-foot-plus-tall stained-glass mosaic of Jesus Christ, with arms and hands outstretched. (A construction worker on site cheekily referenced the apartment as 鈥渢he Jesus Suite.鈥�)

Above it all still will tower the unmissable steeple.

鈥淒uring the design, one of the first things we talked about was the steeple,鈥� said Frank Cason, whose Columbia development group is undertaking the church’s transformation, along with Garvin Design Group architects and Boyer Construction, at the corner of Sloan Street and Rosewood Drive. 鈥淚 was … leaning toward, should we take that off? And our architect said, 鈥楾his is always going to be a church. It’s always going to read as a church. Why would you take that off? It’s not going to make it less of a church.’鈥�

The team kept the steeple.

The apartments, dubbed 5th and Sloan, are shaping up as a carefully thought-out blend of old and new; even the name of the under-construction complex is an ode to Rosewood Drive’s historic name: 5th Avenue.

The apartments also represent, possibly for the first time in Columbia, the transformation of a traditional church sanctuary into something besides a church. It’s happened elsewhere 鈥� the current Church and Union restaurant in downtown Charleston, for instance, and in places usually farther outside the Bible Belt. But it’s still a novel concept in a region traditionally known for a proliferation of churches on every corner, figuratively (and sometimes literally) speaking.

In several ways, the church-to-apartments transformation represents a bridge between the past and the future of this spot in Columbia. And it’s still a nod to a church community that hasn’t disappeared but has relocated farther down the Rosewood corridor in a smaller space, as the congregation has shrunk in recent years.

Cason jumped at the opportunity to undertake the project, almost as soon as the church building hit the market in 2019. He believed the structure could be saved and repurposed. Some people in the community thought it should be turned into a brewery, while others couldn’t believe Cason would even consider touching the sanctuary, the developer said.

Since work began at the site in October 2021, it’s been almost a daily task to decide what details can and should be preserved as construction progresses, Cason said.

鈥淭he big challenge is … it’s a new use for the structure, while maintaining the fact that there was a church, and we don’t want to hide that, and we don’t want to lose that,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s part of the charm.鈥�

Columbia as a city places a high value on historic preservation. And while the Rosewood church building itself does not have a historic designation, the structure and the congregation that once filled it have 鈥渟ignificance鈥� to the surrounding community, Cason said.

鈥淚t can be cheaper to tear things down and start from scratch,鈥� he acknowledged. 鈥淭here’s a place to tear down, and there’s a place for keeping. Just because a building is old doesn’t mean it should be kept, and just because it would be easier to tear down doesn’t mean it should happen like that. … This is the way we want historic properties to be, where you can blend them in with new; you can add to them.鈥�

The 49 apartments at 5th and Sloan are expected to open to residents in October. A mix of one- and two-bedroom units, some of them two stories tall, will be spread across the former sanctuary, classroom building and a newly constructed building between them. The complex will include a fitness center, a lounge for residents and an outdoor courtyard, and several apartments will have outdoor balconies. Rents will range from $1,425 to $2,400.