3RD ANNUAL
NOVEMBER 13–19, 2025
DEC. 5-6, 12-14 & 19-21, 2025
WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
DOWNTOWN DRAINAGE WORK
LOLITA HUCKABY
Downtown Beaufort is NOT closed for business
W
BEAUFORT hen the late city Public Works Director Clayton Cooler retired in 1992 after almost 50 years of monitoring the municipality’s water and sewer services, not to mention trash collections and road repairs, a lot of people said well, now we’re in trouble, ‘cause Clayton knows in his head where all the pipes are. In those days, when the town didn’t stretch over to Lady’s Island or out to MCAS Beaufort, for the population of fewer than 10,000, keeping with underground pipes wasn’t the monumental task it is now. Case in point, the $11.9 million Charles and Craven streets stormwater drainage replacement project designed to replace 100-yearold pipes. A project which has the downtown merchants up in arms and city officials scrambling to meet a deadline of the end of 2026 to spend federal grants for the project. The project is being funded by American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, grants which were available to the city, like other municipalities and governments, to help offset the losses incurred by the COVID epidemic. And now that a schedule has been released that calls for the closure of the Bay and Charles Street intersection during the upcoming holiday months, merchants are extremely concerned and letting their elected leaders know about it. The city leaders’ response has been a decision to launch a comprehensive marketing plan letting the world know DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS. The response includes expanding the free-parking option in the Downtown Marina parking lot, which is traditionally done for the Christmas season, between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Now, free parking is available as well as token passes to allow free parking for a two-hour period. Merchants have suggested suspending all parking fees through this construction period, and while city officials haven’t responded, a parking study several years ago indicated if parking fees were waived, it was
SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A6
Bay-Charles intersection to close for 5-6 weeks Key downtown junction to shut down Thursday, won’t reopen until after Christmas holiday
The Island News Thursday, Nov. 13 is the day “the Grinch” is coming to downtown Beaufort, and downtown merchants are hoping “it” doesn’t spoil the holidays. As a part of the Charles-Craven streets drainage project, which in the not so distant past was meticulously scheduled so as to protect the holiday season for downtown merchants and visitors alike, the intersection of Bay Street and Charles Street will be closed to traffic for five to six weeks, beginning this week The South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) and the City of Beaufort were set to begin construction in late October, but work on the west end of the project near the Waterfront Park revealed issues that required the changing of the construction timetable, according to the City. According to the SCOR, the City of Beaufort’s downtown stormwa-
A large, 100-plus-year-old oak tree was removed early Monday morning, Nov. 10, 2025, from the entrance to the Beaufort Downtown Marina and the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, across from the intersection of Bay and Charles streets, in advance of the Charles-Craven streets drainage project. Lolita Huckaby/The Island News ter infrastructure, installed around City was awarded $11.9 million for 1900, no longer has the capacity to the project’s engineering, design, adequately store and channel stormSEE STREETS PAGE A7 water during heavy rain events. The
BEAUFORT COUNTY VETERANS DAY PARADE
Four-year-old Easton Bussell of Beaufort excitedly waves to the fire trucks as they pass by on Boundary Street during the Beaufort County Veterans Day Parade in Beaufort on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.
The McClune family of Beaufort stands and waves on Boundary Street while watching the Beaufort County Veterans Day Parade in Beaufort on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. Photos by Amber Hewitt/The Island News
NEWS
ARTS
EDUCATION
INSIDE
Rotary Club of Beaufort honors area service members.
‘Singing loud for all to hear’: Beaufort Chidren’s Theatre presents Elf The Musical, JR.
BCSD Choice program applications available online; deadline to apply is Jan. 15.
PAGE A3
PAGE A9
PAGE A10
Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–8 Arts A9 Education A10 Health A12
Sports A13 Voices A14–15 Military A16–17 Directory A18 Classifieds A19