5/18: Marc Marchant, LS3P: Designing a Legacy

May 18, 2021

We had a great presentation from Marc Marchant, CEO of the renowned local architectural firm (and where our own past president David Burt has had an outstanding career) to give us some of the highlights of their work as well as discuss the firm’s vision. Don’t forget River Dogs game social night this week. And big thanks to Digit Matheny and all who came out to support the PGA Championship concession project – a lot of work but tons of fun to all who lent a helping hand — and a big fundraiser for Rotary!

Marc Marchant, CEO of LS3P, spoke to the club this week about the firm’s history and vision for the future. LS3P was founded here and has played a large part in growing the landscape of Charleston. The firm now has grown to over 300 employees in 8 offices in 3 states.

Marc shared LS3P’s vision statement: Commitment to the Southeast, Architecture that embraces community through a culture of design excellence, expertise, and innovation, and collaborative engagement. This vision is built upon years of service to clients and designing buildings to meet their needs.

Frank Lucas founded the firm in 1963 and the following year Sidney Stubbs joined as his first partner. Over the years, 3 more partners joined: Vito Pascullis, Richard Powell, and Thom Penney. And in 1989 the firm name was changed to LS3P.

In 1999, LS3P acquired TBA2 Architects in Charlotte. Both firms had around 100 employees, so LS3P effectively doubled in size overnight. In 2004, LS3P opened an office in Columbia. In 2005 they acquired Boney Architecture, a 100-year-old firm with offices in Wilmington and Raleigh NC. In 2011 LS3P acquired Neal Prince Architects in Greenville SC. In the years since, the firm has continued to grow with new offices in Savannah, Myrtle Beach, and most recently Atlanta.

LS3P serves clients in almost all sectors except for single-family homes. Their primary markets are higher education, K-12 education, commercial, and healthcare. These four typically make up about 75% of the firm’s revenue.

Marc shared several slides showing LS3P buildings through the years. The first building that really put the firm on the map, was the Gailliard Auditorium. The firm won a design competition to be commissioned for that project. Another early building was the BlueCross Blueshield office in Columbia. One of the of the 1970’s projects was American Mutual Fire Insurance building near Citadel Mall. The new Charleston Airport, Charleston CPW Headquarters, and Kiawah Sales Center were some of the 1980’s projects. In the 1990’s, LS3P designed several prominent downtown Charleston projects such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Gateway Center, and a vertical expansion of one of MUSC’s buildings. Wando High School, the Victoria Center, and MUSC’s Ashley River Tower were done in the 2000’s. And over the last decade some of the major projects have been Sky Garden Student Housing on Wolfe Street, TTC Nursing Center, Mead Westvaco at Nexton, the new Mt Pleasant Library, Center for Advanced Studies at Wando HS, and BoomTown’s offices on the upper peninsula. And finally, some more recent projects have been the Jasper, Charleston Airport Parking Garage, 180place, TTC Aeronautical Center, and Ingevity’s new office in North Charleston.

All these projects were shaped by client wants and needs. Marc explained how he used to be able to see a building and know it was an “LS3P building” but that now that is no longer the case. He showed several new office buildings that were all very different, all driven by client input and the context of the site.

Another point of pride for Marc is the service that LS3P does in the community. Their people are their greatest asset, and they are engaged with local charities and services such as the Ronald McDonald House, Trident United Way, Rotary, and many others. About 18 months ago, the firm decided to dedicate 1% of revenue each year to be used for pro bono work. One of these type of projects is a plan for a memorial garden at a cemetery found near the Crosstown Expressway. Another exciting pro bono project was a new health clinic LS3P designed in Uganda. LS3P will continue to serve their clients and the community in the future.

IN OTHER MEETING NEWS

- - - Past President Alissa Lietzow gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
    - Nick Wackym introduced all visiting Rotarians & guests. Bob Stephenson and his wife, Suzanne visited us from Marquette, MI Rotary and presented a club flag to President Lisa.
    - President Lisa Van Bergen presented Health and Happiness.
    - Tom Leonard introduced our guest speaker, Marc Marchant of LS3P, who presented “Designing a Legacy”.

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY

May 25, 2021 | Issue 50076 President: Lisa Van Bergen

COMING EVENTS

May 25 – David Ginn, CRDA, Regional Economic Update
June 1 – Nancy Mace, Legislative Update (ZOOM ONLY)
June 8 – Ellen Moryl, CSO and Arts in Charleston
June 15 – Suzie Shannon, SC Council of Competitiveness
June 22 – Capt. Veronica Brecht, USCG in Charleston
June 29 – Board Transition Social
July 6 – No MEETING – Happy July 4th!

NEWS BRIEFS

Important – COVID Meeting Protocols Updated

In alignment with the new CDC guidelines, the Rotary Board has determined that the club needs to make adjustments to our Rotary meeting procedures. Effective immediately, we will no longer take temperatures upon arrival or be required to sign a waiver at the door. Face masks are now optional for all Rotarians and visitors, who are fully vaccinated. Those Rotarians and visitors, who are not yet vaccinated, are encouraged to continue to wear masks. Name badges will again be worn at meetings.

The staff and servers at Hall’s will continue to wear masks.

For the safety of our members and guests, we ask all members to please comply with the CDC guidelines and our protocols.

RCCF Awards Grants

Members of the RCCF Committee were out in the community last week and made a check presentation/visit to Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Our club’s donated funds will go to support clients in their Own Your Life (OYL) program by purchasing Tel-A-Ride and Tri-County Link tickets to enable them to get to and from the ABVI office so they can take OYL classes to learn independent living skills and/or skills they need to get a job.

We also were able to recognize two RCCF grant recipients at our meeting this past Tuesday – HALOS and Ronald McDonald House. Casey Stradcutter joined us on behalf of HALOS and thanked the club for our support of their Critical Goods program. Our donated funds will go to purchase items like car seats, cribs, beds, dressers, etc. for kinship families. Kinship care is an arrangement in which a grandparent or other relative raises a child to keep them with family instead of entering foster care with strangers.

Alix Tew attended on behalf of The Ronald McDonald House. Alix thanked the group for our support of their monthly BINGO nights for families staying in the house. These BINGO nights are held in partnership with the City of Charleston Police Department. Our donated funds will go to purchase prizes for 6-8 months of BINGO. Necessity and comfort items such as lotions, slippers, skin products, baby onesies, baby blankets, toys and such are distributed. The families love the BINGO nights as it is one of the highlights of the month.

We are pleased to support these outstanding organizations as they assist others less fortunate in our community. We will be recognizing 3 other grant recipients next week.

Riverdogs Social on Wednesday Night

The Riverdogs Social event scheduled for this Wednesday is SOLD OUT. We are no longer accepting RSVPs for this event. Those who RSVP’d to attend should expect an email from the Riverdogs with their digital tickets. We will NOT be handing out tickets at the gate — you will have to have your digital ticket to enter the stadium.

If you didn’t RSVP to attend and would like to join us, you can purchase a ticket and join us for fellowship, but you will need to purchase your own food and beverage as you wouldn’t be included in the meal count. The “club” tickets include admission and the meal. Riverdogs does require you to purchase tickets on-line in advance. They are not selling tickets from the box office the day of the game.

Board Transition Social – Mark Your Calendars

As we have done all year, we are going to do something a little different for our last meeting of this Rotary year. A Happy Hour Social from 5-7pm is scheduled at Hall’s Signature Events on Tuesday, June 29th in lieu of our lunch meeting that day. There will be a “brief” meeting, but mostly it will be a fun time to celebrate the year, ring in the new Rotary year and catch up with our Rotary friends. We hope you will plan to bring your spouse or guest and join us!

Charleston 50

The Historic Rotary Club of Charleston is blessed to recognize each quarter someone who has made a difference in our community with The Community Impact Award. Congratulations to Brandon!

We made it!! We are at 100% of our goal of 50 donors by our goal date of March 15! Thank you to our inaugural class of the Charleston 50 for their generous support. This special group of 48 Rotarians and 2 community donors committed to contribute $500 annually to the RCCF, which funds our club’s community and international projects and grants. The Charleston 50 was a wonderful alternative to a fundraiser during these COVID times and will serve the club well in the future. Thank you to Phoenicia Miracle and Jeanne Jamme for all their efforts in making this such a success. We can continue to do our good works into the 2021-2022 year!

PR Committee Seeking Volunteers

Our club’s PR Team is looking for additional members to join their committee. Specifically, volunteer photographers are needed to take photos at our meetings. If you are interested in serving on the PR committee and helping in this role, please email Mike Sottak at [email protected]. Fancy cameras are not required, an iPhone will do! It would be wonderful to have a couple of volunteers alternating the weekly duty.

Support The CART Fund

It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has a new portal www.mycartfund.org, which you can easily access. As a Rotarian and a DACdb user, you automatically have an account already set-up in your name. Your user name and password are the same as it is for the DACdb.

Become a PHF & Support the Rotary Foundation

Do not forget your opportunity to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. Eighty-five dollars a month gets you there. Please reach out to Karl Riner, Club Foundation Chair, to sign up or ask questions.

You can also donate to Rotary’s efforts to end polio now: https://endpolio.org/donate.

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encouraged to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too! We also need members to send us pictures of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc. We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be sent to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].

MEMBER NEWS

Welcome to our newest member, Tom Stockdale. Tom is a former Rotarian from the Buckhead (Atlanta), Georgia Rotary Club. He was introduced and sponsored by Tom Leonard. Tom will hold the classification of Real Estate/Development. We are excited to have Tom as a part of our Rotary family.

It is with much regret that the Board accepted the resignation of Bo Crouch. We will miss Bo and wish him all the best.

Our most heartfelt get well wishes to Mackie Moore, who recently had spine surgery. Our thoughts and prayers are with her for a speedy recovery.

Congratulations to Rosalinda Loredo, who is expecting her 5th child!

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rotarian: Tom Stockdale

JOINED: 5/18/2021
SPONSOR: Tom Leonard
MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: New Member
CLASSIFICATION: Real Estate/Development
PROFESSION: Director of Asset Management, The Beach Company
SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: Cilantro tastes like soup. Avid traveler and outdoorsman.

Birthdays

5/25 – Kerby Teller
5/30 – President Lisa Van Bergen

By the numbers

- Attendance on May 18, 2021 (In-Person and Zoom): 52
- Not in attendance. Allen, Berry, Bini, Brack, Brady, Cardwell, Clark, Coe, Coghill, Cole, Cook, Coxe, Curia, DeGraff, Diminich, Donaldson, Dopp, Drafts, Echols, Fason, Fellabom, Fink, M., Finniff, Galizia, Gill, Gorrin, Goxhaj, Hanger, Howard, Imam, Jones, Jones, Kaynard, Lee, Lucy, Luth, Matheny, Moore, Moring, Oswalt, Palmer, Patrick, Ravenel, Raver, Riley, Riner, Rust, Scott, Seguer, Shahid, Smith, H., Smith, M., Sottak, Staley, Stoney, Strickland, Sullivan, Taylor, Tecklenburg, John, Uram, Vanek, Walters, Weston, Wieters, Ward

- Out of Town Make-ups: None

WELLNESS TIP

A walk around the block is better than no walk at all

When it comes to a healthy lifestyle, doing just a little bit is better than doing nothing at all. If you want to go on a walk but don’t have time for your usual hour-long walk, take a short walk around the block. A 5-minute walk is better than no walk at all!

ARE CLUB MEETINGS

Mondays

Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
Goose Creek: 12:45 m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Wednesdays

Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville

Thursdays

North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

Charleston Breakfast: 7:30AM Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston

SOCIAL MEDIA

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

We’re on Facebook. Take a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
We’re on Twitter. You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
We’re on Instagram. You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.

ABOUT THE KEYWAY

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

President: Lisa Van Bergen
Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029, Charleston, SC 29413-1029