Partners

Theodora Park has been created through the collaboration of generous donors, artists, design and construction professionals, the City of Charleston, and Charleston Parks Conservancy.

Wertimer + Cline

Wertimer + Cline – led by Sheila Wertimer and Cindy Cline – has worked on public and private projects from the Southeast to New England. Throughout more than 600 projects in the Charleston area, the firm’s work has been characterized by simplicity of design, respect for Charleston’s unique rich historic fabric, and harmony between architecture and site.

“Theodora Park is located on a small but vital corner in Charleston’s Ansonborough neighborhood. It is designed to be a lush and tranquil public garden whose composition (a happy collaboration with the park’s instigator, David Rawle) relies upon the rhythm and shade of the three large Live oaks that border the site. Its layout is clear and unembellished, using traditional bluestone and brick paving, overlaid with a rich palate of flowering plants to lend interest, texture and detail. The whole site focuses on a long, elegant, hand-tiled fountain pool as its centerpiece.

Theodora Park is dedicated to the memory of David’s mother, a woman I never met but one of whom I have grown exceedingly fond.”

– Sheila Wertimer

Paul Heroux

Ceramic artist Paul Heroux’s work is in the collections of major museums including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Portland Museum of Art. And there have been more than 60 gallery exhibitions of his ceramics. Paul taught ceramics at Bates College for 29 years.

“There are so many beautiful fountains and pools in Charleston that it’s quite a challenge to design a water feature for a public space in the City.

My two inspirations for the piece are the formal boxwood hedges I see around town and the wonderful green glazes used on old Italian tiles, jars and garden ornaments. Those original green glazes were used on earthenware forms. They cannot withstand the wear freezing temperatures demanded of an outside pool. However, similar rich and complex glazes do exist today, and a few ceramicists like Chris Gustin use them to make tiles for architectural use.

I propose to create a tiled pool using Gustin’s tiles and glazes. A palette of various boxwood greens will cover the exterior of the piece, along with line work based on a cracked glaze and a veined leaf pattern that will come into view as one approaches the pool. The water-filled interior will have bits of colorful shapes on the bottom surface obscured by the water movement.

I envision a green sculptural form in a lush green garden. The top surface will provide a sitting space for relaxation and contemplation and a cool spot to be used by all.”

– Paul Heroux

Philip Simmons

Philip Simmons (1912-2009) was a legendary artisan blacksmith in Charleston. His work is owned by two of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Mr. Simmons the National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor bestowed upon an artist.

The Ansonborough neighborhood has a rich collection of Mr. Simmons’s work. Diagonally across the street from Theodora Park, he designed the walkway gate and fence for St. John’s Reformed Episcopal Church. He also designed a ‘double heart’ driveway gate for the Heart Garden on Menotti Street.

“You heat and beat, heat and beat, heat and beat. That’s the name of the game. The more you look down, the more you see.

I’ve never made anything I didn’t like. I take a long time on the drawing, and when the customer likes it, I already like it first. I’m lucky his choice is mine too.

I glad you got something uptown. People think that all my work is in the lower Battery. But I done a lot of work for poor peoples like myself. They enjoys it too.”

– Philip Simmons

Design & Construction

Design
Wertimer + Cline – Landscape Design
Aqua Blue Pools – Fountain Consultant
J.R. Broadway Co. – Fountain Structural Design
Forsberg Engineering – Civil Engineer
Ary Fun – Consulting Arborist
Moonlighting – Mike Rollins – Lighting Design Consultant
RMF Engineering – Electrical Engineer
Simmons Irrigation Supply – Irrigation Design
Thomas & Denzinger – Jim Thomas and Joel Wenzel – Architects: Gate Base

Construction
Wildwood Contractors, Inc. – General Contractor, Sitework, and Utilities
William Kent Masonry – Masonry
Aqua Blue Pools – Fountain
Ahern’s Anvil – Iron Work
Green Acres Services, LLC – Landscape
H&H Electrical Service, LLC – Electrician

Charleston Parks Conservancy

Darla Moore
Chair Emerita

Charles McLendon
Chair

Tom McGuire
Executive Director

Board Members
George Bullwinkel
Jessica Gibadlo
Mary Tilt Hammond
Greer Hostetter
Harry Lesesne
Lee Manigault
M. Anthony McAlister, Jr.
W. Scott Parker
Thomas J. Parsell, Jr.
Joseph P. Riley, Jr.
Katharine Robinson
Sean Sykes
Stephen C. Warner