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Welcome to the Neighborhood!

We might be biased, but we think that West Columbia is the best place in the Midlands to call home.


Photo by: Candace Nelms

Our community is right on the Congaree River and the West Columbia Riverwalk is just steps away from our front door. We’re located along State Street where you’ll find the best dining anywhere around from Al’s Upstairs to Black Rooster, Terra, and Café Strudel. We’re also a short walk from Columbia’s Historic District, the South Carolina State House, and Main Street.

One of the biggest community events, the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner, is in our front yard on the Gervais Street Bridge—it’s river living at its finest to be able to walk to and from this dinner each year!

We’re excited to be welcoming four new businesses to our community this fall and into next year. These businesses are all places that we know our residents are going to love having in our neighborhood.

  • Black Rooster – located in our community, Black Rooster is Chef Kristian Neimi’s newest creation and we love the rooftop bar views over the river, the Gervais Street Bridge, and downtown Columbia.
  • Primal Gourmet – their meal plan packs ensure that you eat well throughout the week no matter how busy you are or what type of food you enjoy eating.
  • WECO Biergarten – the owner of The Whig in downtown Columbia is bringing a bottle shop / biergarten to Meeting Street and we can’t wait to enjoy a craft beer with them!
  • Savage Craft Ale Works – if there’s one thing we love, it’s a local brewery! We love that they’re renovating an old firehouse to create their space.

 

What additional businesses would you love to see come to West Columbia and Cayce? We’d love to know!

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A Celebration of Art in West Columbia

Have you noticed the construction happening along Meeting Street behind the restaurants on State Street? The City of West Columbia has been busy pulling together something special for our community to enjoy: an Interactive Art Park!

This has been a collaborative effort of West Columbia City Council, local artists, local business owners on State Street, the South Carolina Municipal Association Hometown Economic Development Grant, and the Central Carolina Community Foundation Connected Communities Grant to bring a much-needed refresh to State Street.

Now, you’ll find a bright, colorful alleyway to the left of Terra that will take you from the front side of State Street to the public parking behind the restaurants. The newly paved parking lot provides plenty of parking for our community and neighbors to use as they enjoy the shopping and dining along State Street. There are several murals and sculptures that everyone can enjoy, too!

Artists involved in this project include:

  • Colleen Otte (See Me… On State Street Wall & Frames)
  • Karl R. Larsen (Big Lonely Doug Mural)
  • Christine Lufty (State of Mind Mural & Alleyway on State)
  • Eileen Blyth (Hand Drums sculpture)
  • Jarod Chrazewski (Conversation Station, Call to Venet, Glockenspiel, Saluda Rest Stop, Tolerance, and Ellipse Harp)
  • Andrew White (Rocket Queen)

The City of West Columbia held the official ribbon cutting for the West Columbia Interactive Art Park on Wednesday, September 4.

On Saturday, September 14, the City of West Columbia is adding another fun element to this park: The West Columbia Meeting Street Artisan Market! The official Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening will happen on September 14th at 9am and the market will remain open until 1pm.

We love all of the fun things coming to #WeCO! Make plans to head over to the new Interactive Art Park and West Columbia Meeting Street Artisan Market this Saturday morning.

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Staying Cool in Town This Summer

If there’s one thing that Columbia is known for, it’s the famously hot days that roll into town for the summer months. How do you stay cool around town? We have rounded up our favorite ways to beat the heat this summer:

Take a dip in our pool.

The quickest way to cool off this summer? Jump into our pool! Spend an afternoon floating in our pool with a good book that you picked up at Richland Library or simply relaxing in the shade. Our pool is open daily for you to enjoy!
Check out the local museums.
Now is a great time of year to visit one of our award-winning local museums. The Columbia Museum of Art  is recently renovated and has special events all summer long that you can enjoy. Their collection was reorganized earlier this year to be displayed thematically, meaning that you can see how different artists across different eras and continents have focused on common ideas.
If you haven’t been to the South Carolina State Museum lately, plan a trip there this summer. It’s family friendly (perfect place to take family visiting from out of town!) and has a great exhibit on local area rivers called “Reflection on the River”. The best time to check out the State Museum? On Tuesday nights! The museum stays open until 10pm and you can get two tickets into the museum for just $10 after 5pm.
Visit the Richland Library.
Richland Library is an exciting place to be during the summer! Not only can you escape the heat inside with their air conditioning, but you can shop the weekly farmers market, attend a workshop, listen in to a 1 Million Cups presentation, and even learn to sew.
Spend the evening on the rooftop.
Catch an incredible sunset from our rooftop over West Columbia, and once the sun sets, enjoy the cooler temperatures as you grill out with your friends and neighbors. Our rooftop has ample seating for everyone and views that cannot be beat.
See a play at a local theatre or a movie at The Nick.
Duck inside a local theatre like Trustus Theatre to catch a live theatrical performance of Heathers, The Musical or reserve a seat at The Nick to see midweek matinee. The Nick’s upcoming screenings include favorites The Little Rascals and Field of Dreams and several series including a Foreign Focus series, a Road to Woodstock series, and a Nick After Hours series.
How are you spending your days this summer?
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Dining on the Bridge

Close up of Brookland branded cup filled with blue cocktail sitting on a table.

People gathered on a Gervais Street bridge at Sunset for party

Have you ever dined with 1,400 of your neighbors on your city’s most iconic bridge at sunset on a gorgeous fall evening?

 

If you have, you must have been at this year’s Gervais Street Bridge Dinner on Sunday, October 21. It was an absolutely beautiful fall evening to gather on the bridge with our community for drinks, entertainment, and a family-style dinner.
Close up of Brookland branded cup filled with blue cocktail sitting on a table. Spread of food in white bowl with pasta, salami, olives, and tomatoes on a table with plates

 

We started off the evening with a gathering outside of our community on the corner of Gervais Street and Alexander Street. Our residents and guests enjoyed live music by Jon Rooks, a specialty cocktail, and appetizers to munch on before walking a few steps down the road to the entrance to the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner. It was a great way for us to get to socialize with everyone—both those attending the dinner and those who just wanted to enjoy a wonderful fall afternoon outside.
Thank you board for sponsors of Gervais Street Bridge Party including Estates & Companies, nephron, the state.com, and Motor Supply Bistro
The dinner itself was spectacular! The bridge was shut down all day long in preparation and we eagerly watched as the space transformed into a magnificent dinner party. Delicious handcrafted cocktails flowed, local craft beers from Columbia Craft Brewing were poured, and Columbia’s Roller Derby team skated around delivering hors d’oeuvres from Southern Way Catering. There were even sweets from Ally & Eloise Bake Shop and a coffee bar to enjoy.

 

Our favorite part of the whole evening? It was just a short walk for our residents to go from their home down to the festivities. Nobody had to worry about driving, finding parking, or getting home too late on a Sunday evening.

 

If you missed the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner this year, we hope you make plans to attend next year! Be on the lookout for ticket sales early next summer—tickets this year sold out in just a few minutes. It’s one event that you don’t want to miss!
Congaree River at sunset during Gervais Street Bridge Party
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Help Us Celebrate the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner!

Aerial view of Gervais Street Bridge in West Columbia, SC

What’s more picturesque than a gorgeous, cool fall evening on the Gervais Street Bridge at sunset with 1,000 of your Columbia neighbors?

Aerial view of Gervais Street Bridge in West Columbia, SC

Photo by Soda City.
 
The 3rd Annual Gervais Street Bridge Dinner is right around the corner, and here at Brookland, we’re thrilled to not only be a sponsor of this year’s event but to be hosting our own pre-party prior to the beginning of the official festivities on the bridge. For our residents, this event is right outside of our front doors and we’re excited that our community has the opportunity to be in the middle of all of the excitement.
The Gervais Street Bridge Dinner, now in it’s third year, is a wonderful community event that has quickly become the place to be in Columbia on the 3rd Sunday of October. It’s a seated dinner for 1,000 complete with an exemplary meal catered by Southern Way Catering, specialty cocktails, live music & entertainment, and views over the Congaree River that are unbeatable. The Gervais Street Bridge closes down early Sunday morning to traffic and the set up begins: tables, chairs, plates, glasses, silverware, table decor, and more.
People sitting on Gervais Street Bridge having dinner to celebrating it’s opening
Photo by COLAtoday.
 
Tickets to the dinner are a hot commodity each year and this year, the tickets sold out in less than an hour after opening to the public for sale. The Gervais Street Bridge Dinner is more than a fantastic community event. All of the proceeds from the event go to benefit several local charities. This year, the benefitting charities are:
and
If you’re planning to attend the dinner—and even if you’re not—make plans to attend our pre-party at Brookland. Join us on Sunday, October 21, from 2-4pm to get the Gervais Street Bridge Dinner fun started. We’ll have the blue carpet rolled out to welcome you, a signature drink for you to sip on, and a DJ providing entertainment. Our photographer will be set up to take a photo of you and your friends in front of the Gervais Street Bridge and we’ll have party favors for each guest.
Afterwards, for those lucky enough to have tickets to the dinner, walk right on over to the Gervais Street Bridge for an unforgettable evening in Columbia. We hope to see everyone on October 21!
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Brookland Brunch

Hand holding carton with chocolate drizzled strawberries in food carton
Come one, come y’all to Sunday brunch down by the river!

Brookland Brunch, a collaboration between our Brookland development and Soda City Market, successfully launched on Sunday, October 1, 2017 with the help of local food truck and coffee shop vendors. Held each Sunday from 10am to 2pm at the West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater, vendors have included Curiosity Coffee, The Belgian Waffle Truck, 72 Coffee, PinchoJo, Agape Chocolates, Palmetto State of Mind, and Bked Donut. You can enjoy delicious food from some of Columbia’s most popular food trucks and mimosas while taking in the gorgeous views over the Congaree River and Gervais Street Bridge.

Blueberry muffin and coffee drink sitting on ledge, chocolate-strawberry drizzle waffle in food carton held up to food truck, “brookland brunch” graphic


Thank you to the City of West Columbia, SC for their generous sponshorship!

Join the Facebook event to keep up with updates!

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We want to see all the food + fun. Share your pictures on social with the #BrooklandBrunch.