The City of Charleston says it’s reevaluating its policies on Charleston’s culturally significant and historic properties after the Emma Abbott Memorial Chapel on Cooper Street was torn down this week.

“Once (buildings) are demolished, you can’t get them back," City Spokesperson Deja Knight McMillan told The Post and Courier.

Before-and-after view of a church: a bright white building with purple roof on the left, and its weathered facade under restoration scaffolding on the right. — See how 52 Cooper St. changed between 1990 and earlier this month. | Photos by Preservation Society of Charleston

The Romanesque Revival church served Black congregations for generations and was approved for adaptive reuse as housing in 2021.

Developers planning to build six residential units and two townhomes on the property say they received permission for the demolition on Aug. 21. The developer says it will “deconstruct” the chapel, rebuild it, and even reuse some of the original shingle siding.

Architectural elevation drawing of Cooper Lofts adaptive reuse, showing existing and proposed church-like facades with gables, arched windows, and blue sky. — In 2021, the BAR-S approved a plan to remove parts of the foundation and roof so the building could be elevated and shaped into housing. | Rendering by city's BAR image overview

What happens next?

Now, the city says this event will directly impact a forthcoming architectural and historical survey.

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