With the Main Library Closed, Downtown Charleston's Errands Are Moving Up the Peninsula

The holds shelf for downtown Charleston now sits in the former ILA union hall at 1142 Morrison Drive. Since Aug. 1, the Charleston County Public Library's Main Library at 68 Calhoun St. has been closed for renovation. Its stand-in, called Main at Morrison, opened on Oct. 5 with free parking, about 6,300 square feet of public space and most of the everyday services people used on Calhoun.

The library is one of several things that moved north this fall. A Mount Pleasant brewery opened a second taproom on Cannon Street in August. A sushi counter opened a few blocks down the same street that month. An all-day café and bakery is set to open on Columbus Street in early November. Put together, the peninsula's public building, its new morning coffee stop and its new weeknight calendar all sit north of Calhoun Street now. That is likely to hold for the next year and a half.

The Library Card Now Points to Morrison Drive

The Charleston City Paper reported that library officials expect Main at Morrison to offer "many of the same core services" as the Main Library. They listed these:

• Browsing collections for children, teens and adults
• Pickups for holds and returns of borrowed materials
• Interlibrary loan support
• Public computers and internet access
• Print and copy services
• Staff help
• Limited space for some events and programs

The Charleston County Public Library lists Main at Morrison as open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Sundays.

Because event space is limited, some programs require advance sign-up. Two are already on the calendar:

• Dungeons & Dragons Game Night, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. You have to register in advance.
• Macrame Holiday Wreath Ornament, Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 to 2 p.m. No registration is needed, but seats are limited.

How Long the Detour Lasts

Main at Morrison will be downtown's branch for a long time. The renovation is the final phase of a project Charleston County voters approved by referendum in 2014. The library estimates the work will take about 18 months from the Aug. 1 closure. The county has not announced a reopening date. Eighteen months from August 2026 is roughly February 2028, so Main at Morrison is likely to be the downtown branch through all of 2027.

Holiday closures apply across the library system, so plan returns and pickups around them. The library board's October packet lists these closed days:

Calhoun Street still has an important date this month. On Saturday, Nov. 14, Emanuel AME Church at 110 Calhoun St. is scheduled to open the Emanuel Nine Memorial, which includes a Fountain of Grace, benches and a cross, as the Charleston City Paper reported.

Cannon Street Picked Up the Evening

After the library closes for the day, the nearest new evening options on the upper peninsula are on Cannon Street.

Two Blokes Brewing opened its taproom at 114 Cannon St. on Aug. 11. It sits on the ground floor of a 19th-century house in what the Charleston City Paper called the "ever-expanding Cannonborough-Elliottborough neighborhood." The space has 50 seats, a covered outdoor area and a small brewing system for one-off barrel batches sold only at that taproom. Owners Rhett and Haley Anderson bought the original Long Point Road brewery in April 2023. In the same City Paper story, Rhett said the second location was meant to be a regular local stop:

"People want a neighborhood spot where they can go and are familiar with. We wanted to emulate that feeling and be an extension of home on Cannon Street and at our original location on Long Point Road."

The taproom's hours reflect that. It opens at 11 a.m. every day and closes at 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Every Friday is "Funky Friday," when a bottle-only wine is poured by the glass. The taproom is also an official watch location for the Liverpool Official Supporters Club all season.

These are selected November dates from the Two Blokes Cannon events page:

1. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 5 to 6 p.m. Let's Run CHS hosts a three-mile run that starts and ends at the taproom. Ellie Dickinson and Bradley Carter founded the club in 2023.
2. Friday, Nov. 13, 6 to 9 p.m. Vinyl Night, with DJ Pauly playing an all-vinyl set.
3. Saturday, Nov. 14, 6 to 9 p.m. The Someday Maybes play on the patio. In September, City Paper reported the patio was slated to open later this fall.
4. Sunday, Nov. 15, 4 to 8 p.m. Kitchen takeover with Chef Devon Knight and Connor White of The Walrus.
5. Friday, Nov. 20, 6 to 9 p.m. Singer-songwriter Krystal Halvorson performs, and Butter Chicken serves dinner on-site.
6. Sunday, Nov. 22, 4 to 8 p.m. Kitchen takeover with Chef Jeremy of Estadio.

Kyn opened at 61 Cannon St. in August, a short walk down the street. Chefs Tae Woo Lee and Peter Marcus run it as a sushi restaurant built around hand rolls and raw fish, according to The Post and Courier and the Explore Charleston fall roundup. With two August openings about 50 house numbers apart, Cannon Street now offers a beer-and-flatbread stop and a sit-down dinner within a few blocks.

Columbus Street Takes the Morning

The morning stop is on Columbus Street. Owen Bernstein, who is part of the team behind Mount Pleasant's Cramer's Kitchen and Nook Tiny Café and Market at 267 Rutledge Ave., plans to open the café and bakery at 128 Columbus St. in early November. The Charleston City Paper reports planned hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. The name stands for "let us meet again." Late in October, Luma's website still said "coming soon," so check it before you go.

The coffee comes from Methodical Coffee, and the bar covers everything from Americanos to espresso and matcha. The bakery will make daily sourdough batards to take home, sourdough English muffins for breakfast sandwiches, seasonal focaccia and pastries such as chocolate croissants, cheddar bacon scones and coconut cake by the slice. For lunch, there is a turkey club on sourdough, a mezze bowl and shakshuka.

Before opening, the Luma team ran pop-ups around town, at Daps Breakfast and Imbibe, The Archer, Estuary Brewing Co., and Two Blokes Brewing's taproom. Bernstein told City Paper the most popular pop-up items were the brioche breakfast sandwich and the turkey club with dill aioli, along with the salted toffee cookie and sourdough cinnamon roll. Because of the pop-up at Two Blokes' taproom, Luma's menu showed up on Cannon Street before the café has opened on Columbus Street.

A Weekday North of Calhoun

Here is how the upper peninsula covers a full weekday once Luma opens:

Each of the four places on that list either opened or moved since August or is due to open in early November. Only the library is temporary, and it is expected to stay on Morrison Drive into 2028.

As neighborhood routines shift, it's worth knowing how those changes show up in day-to-day life and in the value of the homes around them. If you live near Cannon Street, Columbus Street or Morrison Drive and want to talk through what these openings mean for your own plans, Livingston Group is glad to help. Schedule a complimentary strategy consultation.