Do cruise ships endanger historic Charleston ?

Bruce Smith - 

The ongoing debate over cruise liners docking in Charleston has reached well beyond the city's historic waterfront.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation expects to announce June 15 whether to include Charleston on its list of the nation's 11 most endangered historic places. Trust President Stephanie Meeks wrote Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. recently that the size and number of liners "threaten the very character of this historic place."

But the mayor fired back, saying it would be outrageous to add Charleston. The city is honored for its historic preservation efforts and crafted the nation's first tourism management plan.

"It would harm our city, its residents and it would not be based on truth," Riley wrote.

As the cruise industry grows, and as plans for a new $25 million state cruise terminal move forward, some opponents view the ships as bringing an endless stream of tourists, traffic and pollution.

Industry supporters see jobs in a tough economy, diversification for the waterfront and reaffirmation of what Charleston has always been — a seaport town thriving on a deep, sheltered Atlantic harbor for 340 years.

Debate over such issues is as much a part of Charleston as quiet gardens, passing carriages and pastel buildings.

Plans in the 1980s for Charleston Place, the hotel development that led to a renaissance of the city shopping district, were hotly debated by preservationists, as were new courthouses at the city's famed "Four Corners of Law." Opponents of the South Carolina Aquarium that opened a decade ago often said the last thing the city needed was a fish tank.

"It's very good this is a community where people believe they have a right to express their views," said Riley, who said he doesn't get discouraged by constant debate. "Worthwhile developments and projects that have occurred here were not without controversy and the city is better because we were seeking the truth and came up with the very best solution."

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