Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Forest Hills Nursery donates statues honoring police officers and firefighters

Michael and Joy Segars of Forest Hills Nursery & Palm Trees donated The Fireman’s Prayer statue and The Policeman’s Prayer statue to the City of North Charleston for display in the City Hall traffic circle. Each statue pays tribute to our public safety servicemen and women for their ongoing daily work, as well as the family members who provide support at home.


Fire Museum receives generous donation from Case Family

On behalf of the Case Family and the Raymond Case Scholarship Fund, Ms. Linda Case presented a donation in the amount of $8,555.19 to the North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum and Educational Center. The gift will be used for the establishment of a ‘Make Your Own Patch’ exhibit to promote fire safety.

New and innovative exhibits and features are vital in sustaining the popularity and educational value of any museum. From a 32’ touch screen, the ‘Make Your Own Patch’ exhibit will allow museum visitors to build a patch based on eight to ten templates. After template selection, customization will include background and border colors, two editable text regions, and insertion of iconic firefighting images. Each patch prints onto a sticker with a fire safety message. When the exhibit is idle it will continue as a passive display showcasing fire safety messages and images. The exhibit should be fully operational by summer’s end.

This gift is one of many donated to the Fire Museum from the Case Family. Others include an antique fire hose nozzle and a charcoal rendering displayed in the Fire Museum lobby to honor a notable moment of Mr. Case’s fire service career. The caption accompanying the rendering describes his heroic actions at River Downs Race Track on the outskirts of Cincinnati on June 11, 1973. It was there that Mr. Case rescued a German Sheppard from certain death and was instrumental in the safety of an estimated 200 horses. For his actions, he received recognition from the Cincinnati Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Before moving to the Greater Charleston Area, Raymond Case retired from the Cincinnati Fire Department with thirteen years of service. He received numerous accolades during his tenure, including national recognitions.

The City of North Charleston and the Fire Museum are grateful for the overwhelming generosity of the Case Family.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

New Advanced Core Consulting Office Trailblazing Defense Computer Technologies in North Charleston

Advanced Core Technologies announced today that it has opened a research office for developing new algorithmic technologies for the Department of Defense. Computer algorithmic technologies represent the building blocks for Artificial Intelligence, and have virtually unlimited applications for transportation technologies, highway safety and energy conservation and renewal, and US DoD applications like missile defense, weapons systems and military intelligence. The Company is a SPAWAR contractor, and its client list includes Team Robins-Georgia, NASA, Lockheed Martin, and other high end military and government entities.

Advanced Core recently completed Phase 1 of a Missile Defense Agency-Small Business Innovation Research grant of $100,000, which was matched by the South Carolina Research Authority's SC Launch! program as part of regional efforts in support of the Pentagon's SPAWAR complex in North Charleston.

"Phase 1 was successful, proving that the computer works," explains Dave Domingue, CEO for Advanced Core. "We're now entering Phase 2, a million endeavor which is delivery of the actual product from research. Phase 3 is providing actual commercial applications for the research."

More information on Advanced Core can be obtained by calling the above phone numbers, or going to the company's web site, www.advcoretech.com.

Advanced Core is located on the former naval base at the Lowcountry Innovation Center.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Replacement of Fire Station 5 has begun

The North Charleston Fire Department, City Council, and Mayor R. Keith Summey broke ground on Fire Station 5 on May 20, 2010. The new fire station will be located across the street from the current fire station on Dorchester Road between Covington Hills and Jericho on the Ashley.




When the City conducted inspections of all facilities in November 2007, it was determined that Fire Station 5 needed a complete renovation. The renovation would have taken 6 months and require temporary housing (trailers) for fire personnel. Instead of renovating the station at the current site, which the City leases from the Air Force, it was deemed wiser to construct an up to date station on city owned property.

The new station will contain an additional bay that will house reserve or specialized equipment, some of which is currently stored outside due to lack of space. It will contain a weight room for the crews to maintain a higher level of physical fitness and a day room equipped for classroom training for the crews while they maintain coverage in the area. The new station will also contain living space for a Battalion Chief, as our Battalion Chiefs currently stay at other stations dictated more by space limitations rather than strategic determinations.

View Fire Station 5 in a larger map

Friday, May 14, 2010

5th Annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition & Exhibition Winners

Sculpture artists from across the nation applied to the fifth annual National Outdoor Sculpture Competition and Exhibition. Presented by the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, this unique, eleven month exhibition offers established and emerging artists the opportunity to display their thought provoking, extraordinary sculptures, as well as compete for up to $14,750 in Exhibition Honorariums and Awards. Eleven sculptures were selected by the juror, Stuart Hordoner, Artistic Director of the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Once installed at the exhibition site, the juror then selected pieces to receive awards for Best in Show, 2nd Place, and Honorable Mention.

The eleven sculptures selected for exhibition are by eleven artists from seven states. Division I includes ten sculptures that are anchored to a concrete pad or in the grass. Division II includes one sculpture that is secured to a concrete pedestal.

Division I
  • “Mass Murder Machine” (steel, iron, and aluminum) (2nd Place)
    by Doug Barton - Athens, GA



  • “Prism Arc SC” (painted steel) (Honorable Mention)
    by Carl Billingsly – Ayden, NC



  • “Cube” (corten steel)
    by Dana Gingras – Moorseville, NC

  • “Fools Buoy” (steel and concrete) (Honorable Mention)
    by Roger Halligan – Chattanooga, TN



  • “Two Headed Ass” (steel) (Best in Show)
    by George Long – Roswell, GA



  • “Boat Nest, Elevation of Divergence” (steel)
    by Corrina Mensoff – Atlanta, GA

  • “Between Hope and Despair” (steel and stone)
    by Philip Smith – Columbia, MD

  • “Ball Joint” (cast iron and bronze) (Honorable Mention)
    by Kristy Summers – Carbondale, IL

  • “La Fleur da Vie” (steel)
    by TEKLA – Black Mountain, NC

  • “Inside the Vee” (steel and recycled materials)
    by Bob Turan – Earlton, NY
Division II
  • “End of Time” (recycled metal)
    by Jim Shultz – North Charleston, SC

Sculpture sites are located throughout the picturesque Riverfront Park set on the banks of the beautiful Cooper River. Visitors may enjoy ten acres of walking paths, a performance pavilion, picnic shelter, a fishing pier and boardwalk, an oversized sandbox, and children’s play fountain.

The 2010/11 National Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition will be on display May 1, 2010 – March 25, 2011.

Click Here to find out more

Friday, May 7, 2010

Public Celebration for Oak Terrace Preserve Honors, May 22

North Charleston’s Oak Terrace Preserve neighborhood will be holding a block party for the general public from 11 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, May 22, at OTP’s 100 Dolphin Street. Called the "Super Terrificy, Double Fantasicy FREE For All Block Party."


The event will celebrate the community and The Sustainability Institute winning the first-ever Home Depot Award of Excellence for Sustainable Community Development in December 2009, and other honors such as the Charleston City Paper Reader’s Choice naming OTP the “Best New Development” in 2009 and 2010. The event features free food, live entertainment, games and kid activities, with tours of OTP and a session to meet the builders.

“We believe that the Award of Excellence and other recent honors are truly for the community,” says Elias Deeb, OTP project manager and president of Cedrus, LLC. “The award was initially presented in Washington, DC, with a news conference at City Hall in North Charleston, so this block party was a way for the entire public to celebrate spring and the community’s growing national profile.”



Deeb added that the public is invited to find out what makes Oak Terrace Preserve special, with its sense of community and sustainable building practices. OTP represents a fusion of traditional home design with the latest innovations in healthy, sustainable living. The neighborhood is receiving national acclaim for features like pervious sidewalks and a stormwater management system. The development has preserved more than 400 existing trees, including many century-old grand oaks.

Currently, the first phase of The Towns at Oak Terrace is underway by Carriage Hill Associates. Crescent Homes, Verdi Homes and the Pulte Group represent the remaining three builders at OTP. Oak Terrace Preserve is a City of North Charleston owned project, which is managed by Cedrus, LLC.

Upon build out, the 55-acre OTP will feature 374 homes and townhomes. With its EarthCraft® Certified homes, public spaces, preserved trees, recycled building material and innovative storm water management system, Oak Terrace Preserve has been recognized as a national leader in green, sustainable residential development. The neighborhood has been featured in GreenBuilder Magazine as one of the nation’s top residential developments. Other recognition has included listings of the Park Circle neighborhood in Men’s Journal and Cottage Living.

For more party information, please go to www.otpblockparty.com. For information on OTP, visit www.oakterracepreservesc.com.


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