New Five Points development honors trailblazing woman in Columbia, USC history

The newest development in Columbia’s Five Points entertainment district will be named in honor of a trailblazing University of South Carolina student.

The Treadwell development will cover nearly half the 900 block of Harden Street, a site that has languished for decades but has been poised for revival in recent years. Developers say they plan to welcome new businesses to the area in roughly the next year.

It is being named in honor of Henrie Monteith Treadwell, who in 1963 was one of three students to racially integrate the University of South Carolina in downtown Columbia. The daughter of Rebecca Monteith and niece of Modjeska Monteith Simkins, Treadwell was raised by a strong family of Columbia civil rights activists whose names are prominent in the city’s history.

The developers “talked about seeking a name that was meaningful in the community,” said Treadwell, 75, who is preparing to retire as a research professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. She said she was surprised and honored to learn the developers wanted to name their project after her. “I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to bring the communities together with the name. ... I’m glad that I am living to see that we are beginning to look at what we mean when we put a name on something.”

Treadwell’s namesake development will include a variety of shops and eateries, both locally owned and regional or national brands, according to development partners Gus Spoliansky and Trevor Nelson of California-based company Campus + Main.

The first phase of construction — upfitting the storefronts and interiors of existing historic buildings — has been completed, and several businesses have signaled their intent to open there, Spoliansky and Nelson said.

They’re not yet ready to name the upcoming businesses, they said. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a major wrench into the retail market, but the developers hope to see businesses open at The Treadwell within the next year to 18 months. Anywhere from eight to 12 businesses could eventually fill the development.

“We’re trying to create a destination,” said Spoliansky, who described a vision of outdoor seating along the sidewalk and string lights hung in the alleyway. “We’re hoping this is a place people will come with their families to eat, hang out, shop.”

The development will also feature a yet-to-be-designed mural inspired by Treadwell herself and aimed at incorporating nearby universities, including USC and Benedict College.

The Treadwell also will have its own parking lot behind the development, something many Five Points businesses long for.

Construction on The Treadwell will continue over the coming months, with two new structures planned to be built. One existing structure, the former El Burrito restaurant, will be torn down.

The development is more than four years in the making, since the Campus + Main partners began purchasing properties in the block that once included El Burrito, Hip Wa Zee costume shop, Rise bakery and The Unexpected Joy Orthodox book and icon shop.

The majority of the strip, which sits across the street from the Food Lion grocery store shopping center, has been vacant for years.

“That upper area of Harden is key,” said Steve Cook, owner of the nearby Saluda’s restaurant and president of the Five Points Association of businesses. “I think that Five Points is on the cusp of a real big economic development boom. It’s hard for some people to see that just driving through. ... But there’s some stuff that’s really on the precipice of happening.”

The Treadwell is the latest landmark to be named in honor of a prominent Black woman from the city’s history. In the up-and-coming BullStreet District, a newly constructed street has been named in honor of Dr. Matilda Arabella Evans, who was the first female board-certified physician in South Carolina and opened Columbia’s first free clinic for African American children.