Clark Vilardebo
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — When exploring downtown Rock Hill, one immediately notices the numerous murals and art installations honoring the history of the town.

The home for those artists is also right in the heart of downtown, at the Tom S. Gettys Center. Originally built as a post office and courthouse for the city in 1932, it now serves as a center for the arts.

However, the artists who call the Gettys Center home are now in limbo, as the city is moving forward with its plan to selling building.

Last month, the Rock Hill City Council approved a first reading of an ordinance that would move the sale forward, but leaders have not yet announced who will be the buyer.

It has been over a year since the city first announced the sale and artists in the building have remained in the building on a month-to-month basis since last fall. A January vote on the sale was deferred, giving the tenants a little more time in the space.

Mayor John Gettys and members of Rock Hill City Council first announced in January of last year that the building would be put up for sale. One month later, the artists’ lease was terminated and they were given an Aug. 31, 2025 deadline to vacate the building.

Yet, late last fall, many artists were still in the building, thanks to a month-to-month extension from the city.

Dylan Bannister, a Winthrop alum and a Gettys Center tenant, said he has appreciated the extended time — but still doesn’t feel secure.

“It’s kind of bittersweet. It does allow creativity to continue for the meantime, so artists like myself can continue to use my studio space,” Bannister said. “But it does lead to a great amount of uncertainty as to the future of creative programming here.”

The building hosts a variety of tenants, including the Arts Council of York County, Rock Hill Pottery Center, the Courthouse event venue, the Don’t Sweat It music community nonprofit and artists in individual studio spaces.

The decision to put the building for sale already upset many in the art community around Rock Hill.

“I think it’s really sad and the fact that these people have to now go out of their way to find a completely different space or create their own, when they already feel at home in this beautiful building that should be open to the public,” Mia Molfetta, a Winthrop sophomore, said.

“I was just at Don’t Sweat It fest a few weeks ago, and it’s heartbreaking thinking that may have been the last one. No where else offers local concerts like the Courthouse in the Gettys Center,” Piper Keenan, a Winthrop junior, said.

The month-to-month extension has left Mike Gentry, the founder of Don’t Sweat It Inc., confused about the city’s game plan.

“It’s in the middle of downtown where you want to bring people, where restaurants and city hall and everything is, where they’re hosting other festivals downtown. It makes you wonder, why not keep a building that’s working? It’s doing its job,” Gentry said.

Gentry also shares the belief that the month-to-month extension doesn’t accomplish much, as he “still has nowhere to go once the building is sold.”

Bannister also sees the building’s sale as an inevitability.

“I do personally believe that it’s a matter of when, not if, the building will be sold,” Bannister said.

* Editor’s note: The majority of the reporting for this story was done last semester, before the city council voted to move forward with the sale.