November 2017
D I G E S T
The Official Publication of the Kiawah Island Community Association
The Sandcastle, A History: Part 1 - From $1 to Millions
On Oct. 25, the Sandcastle and swimming pool area closed for
major renovations, and activities were moved to other locations.
This article is the first of a two-part series on the history of the
Sandcastle, from the Kiawah Island Company’s 1984 sale of the
pool complex to KICA for $1, until 2000, just before the pool was
rebuilt. Part two will look at developments since 2000. The referendum did pass, and a volunteer Pool Operating
Committee of KRG members was formed to run the facility.
Contract lifeguards staffed the pool in summers, and the snack
bar served several pre-packaged sandwiches and snacks. The
community association added classes in the rustic cabana -
such as art, gardening and bridge - and small social events.
In 1976, when the Kuwaiti-owned Kiawah Island Company
(KIC) began selling land for private homes on Kiawah, it
built a 25-yard four-lane swimming pool to the west of their
Kiawah Island Inn, exclusively for property owners. KIC ran
the pool until 1984, then offered the 2.5-acre tract with the
pool complex, which included a screened-in cabana with some
seating and a snack bar, to the Kiawah Residents Group (KRG
- a precursor to KICA), for $1, provided KIC would not have
to subsidize or manage operations. Several current owners remember the original pool. Martha
Cavanaugh, who began vacationing at Kiawah in 1986 and
bought a lot in 1989, described it as simply, a pool, parking
lot, a boardwalk to the beach and a few planned activities; her
family used the pool daily. Wendy and Tom Kulick bought
property in 1986. Wendy remembers a small cabana with a
stove and oven suitable for heating but not for real cooking.
However, the cabana was the gathering place for the Town of
Kiawah Island election day in December, beginning when the
town formed in 1988. “The late Glen Smith would cook up a
batch of chili and almost everyone on the island would meet
there to learn the results of the election,” she recalled.
The transfer required first a covenant amendment so that
KICA could levy an annual amenity assessment (which was
initially $42 for full-time residents, $28 for part-timers and
$14 for lot owners) to operate the facility; and second, after the
amendment passed with only 39 dissenting votes, a referendum
to approve the purchase. Because KIC had been uncertain that
the referendum would pass, they had back-up plans for the
facility, including operating it like the Night Heron Pool.
By the early 1990s, it was clear that the facility including the
pool, bath house, 850-square-foot cabana, several ground level
decks, and 58 parking spaces, was inadequate for the growing
community association’s needs. The cabana was the only KICA
space for meetings, classes and social gatherings, and the
association had no fitness space.
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