Comporium to begin demolition on 2 downtown buildings. Here’s where they are.
Downtown Rock Hill properties will come down to make way for new ones, starting this week.
Comporium begins demolition this week at 332 and 344 E. Main St. One site is a former Comporium service center. The other is a former Elks Lodge building. They’re part of the block between Comporium headquarters and Fountain Park Place.
Demolition of the vacant buildings should take four to six weeks, according to Comporium. The company continues work with the city, business and community leaders on potential redevelopment.
“Having the land clear now will put us that much closer to putting something new on the property when the time is right,” said Matthew Dosch, executive vice president and COO for Comporium. “We are still reviewing our options regarding what that will be.”
County records list Comporium as the owner of the former service center site, transitioned over from predecessor Rock Hill Telephone Company decades ago.
The almost two-acre former Elks site belongs to Rock Hill-based Fountain Park Realty, also affiliated with Comporium. That entity bought the site in late 2017 for $1.4 million. The site includes one building with more than 10,000 square feet and a smaller one at about 1,300 square feet.
Fountain Park Realty is the same company that owns Fountain Park Place, a 50,000-square-foot commercial space built in 2014. Fountain Park Realty acquired it from Comporium (listed as Rock Hill Telephone Company) in late 2013. Today the site has a market value, per county records, or more than $11 million.
The recent announcement of buildings coming down is similar to what Comporium did last summer. The company announced then the removal of 245 and 249 E. Main Street to create urban green space and parking near Fountain Park for community events, along with options for future redevelopment in the area.
The buildings set for demolition last summer had been vacant for years but previously were home to offices and a performing arts center.
Dosch said the one-story Comporium building coming down used to house a retail location and office space for customer service and sales positions. The location closed the retail side a few years ago.
“The employees who used the office space have been working from home due to COVID,” he said. “When we reopen our office spaces later this year we will relocate those employees to other buildings.”
Dosch said some demo work is underway now, but will become more evident soon.
“Demolition has already started on the site, primarily inside the buildings,” he said. “It may not be visible from the street until later this week or early next week.”
Based in Rock Hill, Comporium is a private company with about 1,100 employees and an array of communications options including broadband, television and phone service for customers throughout the area.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 12:01 PM.
