The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 14, 2004, Horseshoe Special, Image 13

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Old buildings, dispersed departments limit the Horseshoe’s influence; but the historic campus still captivates Columbia BAdam Beam 3AME00CK It was 1972 when a younggrt and ar chitectural historian at USC walked past DeSaussure College on the Horseshoe to find a toilet had fallen through the floor. “The person who was on the toilet at the time was fortunately not injured,” said John Bryan who had then been at USC for about a year. The incident only highlight* ed a greater problem — the Horseshoe was in shambles, and Bryan was going to do something about it. Since USC was founded in 1801, the cam pus had grown around the Horseshoe, a 4 cluster of buildings surrounding a U ! shaped brick road. But as the campus had grown, the Horseshoe had grown old. USC historian Walter Edgar was a grad uate student at USC in the 1960s when he lived on the Horseshoe. “It was a rat hole, to be nice about it,” Edgar said. xx was sucn a rax noxe xnax use piannea to tear down DeSaussure and McCutchen, the budding next to it, to build a nine-story glass office building. Bryan was horrified. Bryan and others got together and put the Horseshoe on the national historic reg istry. William Patterson, the president at the time, decided to renovate the | Horseshoe to celebrate th^ national bicen | tennial in 1976. The building’s exterior I stayed the same, but the insides were al s most totally redone, and the residence g halls were converted to apartments. The Horseshoe, it seemed, was safe. USC’s historic center has withstood nu merous threats during its nearly 200-year history, from the miniscule to the outra geous. At one point, USC administrators had planned to turn the Horseshoe into a sort of Rainbow Row, with each building a different color. But nearly 30 years after itsrenovation, the Horseshoe is aching again. Legare Pinckney needs an elevator and a stair case. Rutledge Chapel has termite and moisture damage. DeSaussure is being studied for foundation problems. And while the Horseshoe isn’t in danger of dis appearing, it might face some stiff compe tition in the next 15 years. ♦ COVER STORY, SEE PAGE 2