Greer City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night to name the $2.5 million renovated former Greer City Auditorium to The Edward R. Driggers City of Greer for the Arts Building.
Driggers is retiring as the City Administrator after 20 years of managing Greer to an amazing growth of economic development and branding, replacing infrastructure that was 100 years old in places, steering downtown Greer through a state of the art renovation, and overseeing manufacturing and industrial development that has Greer recognized as of the state’s gems for quality of life and places to work and live.
The resolution noted Driggers role in “major development and renovation projects for the City of Greer including Greer City Park, Greer City Hall, Cannon Centre, Kids Planet, the Downtown Streetscape Project, and the City of Greer Center for the Arts Building.
The city preserved the 63-year-old building at Davis and Snow Street, by adapting it to the growing demand for the arts – performing, painting, crafts, photography and made studio space available for artists in residence.
The surrounding park includes walking trails, park lighting, wayfinding signage, an amphitheater, educational rain gardens, a playground, and infrastructure that enables the park to host festivals and events, according to the city’s description.
SC Wesleyan Church built the original building in 1955 and used it for its tabernacle, camps and retreats. The building and property was deeded to the city in the 1980s and renamed Greer City Auditorium when SC Wesleyan Church relocated its campsite to Table Rock in 1983. The building and property was deeded to the city and renamed the Greer City Auditorium.
Local churches rented the facility and it became the first home of the South Carolina’s Children’s Theatre (SCCT). When the SCCT needed more space it moved and the building was vacant 15 years until The International Church of Prayer entered into a 20-year lease agreement, and occupied the building for 11 years before the city found it two years in default of a lease contract with the City of Greer. The city took possession in 2015.