McCLELLANVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) – New resources are coming to McClellanville to provide neighbors with closer medical care and a new gathering place for community activities.
That’s thanks to $750,000 from the state coming to the town’s pockets.
McClellanville Mayor Rutledge Leland says folks in the town currently have only one place to go when needing more than just a regular check-up.
“We have a small Roper facility here in town, but it’s in a little house with very limited capabilities,” Leland said.
He refers to the only medical office in the whole town, which is a one-story home owned by Roper St. Francis. Other than that, folks have to drive 30 minutes or more to Mount Pleasant or elsewhere to get the medical attention they need.
But they’re now looking at the former McClellanville Public School as a new option. This school has been in the town since the 1920s and Leland says he even graduated from here when he was in high school. It then eventually became McClellanville Middle School in the 1990s and has been sitting vacant for a number of years.
McClellanville resident Bryan Jones says he’s all in for this location.
“The hub of the community,” Jones said. “It’s our largest building, and it’s almost iconic to the town in McClellanville.”
Leland says the medical expansion could go in the school’s old cafeteria.
The project’s consultant Rebecca Vance says McClellanville does not have a higher number of illness cases. But nearby doctors are seeing folks in worse conditions from here because they are taking longer to get themselves to the hospital.
“When you think about the burden of going all the way into Mount Pleasant, having access to close, quality and quick medical care, even if it’s something like outpatient, before it grows into something a lot worse,” Jones said.
As far as the rest of the building, Leland says they want to make it into a new community center and they’re leaving the options open for what that could entail.
“Physical therapy is one of the things,” Leland said. “We’ve met with the library, Charleston County Library. We feel like it would be a great addition to their size.”
The town has already hired a consultant and architectural firm, but it’s still in the early stages. Therefore, they don’t have a set timeline for when the doors will be open to the public.
Both Leland and Jones say they’ve heard positive opinions about the idea from the rest of the community.
“I think it’s really important to have that access, particularly as the town’s growing too,” Jones said. “As the town continues to grow, we will have more demands on infrastructure, as well as things like access to quality healthcare. So, I absolutely think it’s an important step.”
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McClellanville to see $750,000 worth of medical and community upgrades
