Tenants have been given until August 31, 2025 to vacate their spaces in the building.
On March 10, Rock Hill City Council held a citizens hearing for the community of Rock Hill. The artists and the arts community went to the meeting to provide their voices and speak up for the Tom S. Gettys Center.
Just a few days before, the community found out that Rock Hill’s City Leaders terminated the lease for the Tom S. Gettys Center, giving the artists six months to depart from the building – still without an alternative place to go.
A lot of support was given by the community, and a few artists and regular attendees of the center were vocal towards the council.
Artists and lovers of the Center such as Dylan Bannister, Michael J. Simpson, Fred Shope, Brandi Fox, Alba Hutchinson and Winthrop student, Kit Crosby.
With his statement, Bannister reminded the council that the Center has been home to arts for 40 years, and ending its service to the city of Rock Hill will deteriorate support and service of the arts, for Winthrop students and the community itself, as well as smaller businesses from the Pottery Center to artist’s personal businesses.
Others shared their personal experiences, sharing how effective the loss of the building is personally, and as a community.
Kit Crosby, a junior here at Winthrop, shared her thoughts on what will happen to Rock Hill without the arts.
“Another student said to me, ‘great cities have great art communities’ […] If the arts deplete, so will the city,” Crosby said.
With the news of the Tom S. Gettys Center evolving, Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys talked to The Johnsonian regarding the building’s future.
Gettys mentioned that there were conversations held with the previous director and current director of the York County Arts Council about a year or more prior, stating “I let them know that the building would be listed for sale in the future, because of the cost of upkeep of the building.”
He stated that it came before the city council considering listing it towards the end of 2024, beginning of 2025.
When asked if the council and himself have any potential plans for the building, Gettys essentially said no.
He mentioned that the building is up for sale not knowing of the future, and went over the what-ifs: whether they receive an offer they would want to entertain, or the possibility of not receiving one, or even one that would allow the present uses to continue at the center.
When talking about the conversations Gettys said, “It is premature in that regard, The Arts Council is a tenant in that property and they sublease the property to the artists, that is the council – not us.”
Gettys claimed that since it is listed for sale, they will not get profits from the use of the property and that the council will sell it to another person or party and would be where the income would benefit the use of the property.
“What we would look for is a buyer that would bring some economic vitality to downtown – whatever that may be,” Gettys said.
He continued by mentioning that if they receive multiple offers against the present, they will make a choice towards whether it is good to continue with what is present or to sell it and let the profit law statement work.
When asked if there have been recent discussions with the YCAC, Gettys gave a blunt “yes,” saying there have been multiple conversations. He explained that he understands that the artists are concerned of the unknown future, but that is not who they hold business with.
We reached out to the York County Arts Council for comment, but did not hear back from them.
The future of the Tom S. Getty Center is still unknown, but the arts community will keep fighting. The art community holds “Keeping Rock Hill Creative” which is the page actively posting updates about the Center and promotes the events they hold, you can follow the page on Instagram and Facebook.
