Instead of knocking down the historic, yet dilapidating Oliver’s Lodge near Murrells Inlet’s MarshWalk, Alan Todd pleaded with the owner to deconstruct the materials piece-by-piece.
Todd, director of the Conway Architectural Salvage and Heritage Project, has spent the last four years saving materials from historic buildings across South Carolina and giving them a second life. After completing deconstruction of Oliver’s Lodge a few weeks ago, portions of the building’s brick porch supports may relocate to create artificial coral reefs offshore of South Carolina’s coast.
It’s not the first time Todd’s work has been used for artificial reefs. His first project deconstructing a full home in November 2023 repurposed cinder block walls to sink beneath the waves as structures for reefs to prosper…