The South Carolina Department of Education refused to issue a permit for the Richland 1 early learning center in December 2023 after more than a year of discussing plans for the facility.
The partially-built structure, which stood abandoned for 14 months, has finally been demolished. More than $8.6 million was spent in the process.
Deputy State Superintendent John Tyler told the district the building couldn’t be considered a school. The early learning center, envisioned as a state-of-the-art childcare and family services facility for children as young as infants. For that reason, Tyler wrote, it could not be considered a school…