A Strategic Plan by Leatherwood Matters (Nonprofit)

798 E. Stone Avenue, Greenville, South Carolina

5 Experiences. 

1 Heritagescape.

∞ Memories.

Strategic Plan — 2025
Prepared for: Community Partners, Funders, City Leaders, and the Leatherwood Matters Board

1. Executive Summary
   
   

2. Historical & Cultural Context
   
   

3. Significance of the 1951 Cemetery Maintenance Building
   
   

4. Program Model: Richland Memories™ (5 Experiences)
   
   

5. STR: Beyond Airbnb — The Cultural Lodging Strategy
   
   

6. Capital Plan & Project Budget
   
   

7. Abandoned Building Act Tax Credit Strategy
   
   

8. Financial Proforma
   
   

9. Greenville Library Partnership Plan
   
   

10. Community Engagement Strategy
    
    

11. Technology Integration (VR/AR/Drone)
    
    

12. Implementation Timeline
    
    

13. Governance & Operating Model
    
    

14. Funding Pathway & Sustainability Model
    
    

15. Appendices (Parcel, Zoning, Maps, History)
    
    

Heritagescape

A place where land, memory, and story live together—
where every tree remembers, every path holds a name,
and history rises from the ground to meet you.

Bot’s Place: Home of Richland Memories™ is a cultural innovation project transforming the historic 1951 Cemetery Maintenance Building at 798 E. Stone Avenue into Greenville’s first public memory lab, heritage storytelling center, and cultural lodging suite.

Located directly across from Richland Cemetery, one of Greenville’s oldest and most significant African American burial grounds (est. 1884), this project brings together:

• heritage tourism

• community storytelling

• intergenerational memory work

• immersive technology (VR/AR/Drone)

• historic preservation

• cultural lodging

• youth + elder engagement

Bot’s Place will serve as a living memory hub, where community members, visitors, elders, and youth gather to learn, create, reflect, and preserve the stories of Richland Hill.

A unified umbrella for five immersive public experiences:

• Witness Tree Trail™

• Heroes of Greenville™

• Roots @ Richland™ Geocache Adventure

• Elder Message Station

• Virtual Reality (VR)/ Augmented Reality (AR) Memory Gallery
  
  

2. A Cultural Lodging Suite Above Bot’s Place

Not a traditional Short-Term Rental (STR) — this is a mission-driven lodging experience serving:

• heritage travelers

• scholars

• artists-in-residence

• donors

• retreat participants

• cultural tourists
  
  

3. A Public Memory Lab

Offering free or grant-funded services to digitize memories, record elder stories, and help families preserve their heritage.

4. A Sustainable Financial Model

By combining STR income, heritage tours, partnerships, and SC Abandoned Building Tax Credits, Bot’s Place is designed to be financially resilient from year one.

To build a first-of-its-kind cultural site in Greenville where memory, history, nature, and technology converge — preserving the past while inspiring the next generation.

Bot’s Place will activate the Richland Hill Cultural Corridor through:

Richland Memories™ Heritage Experiences

Heritagescape (Technical Definition)

A heritagescape is an integrated cultural landscape that combines natural features, built structures, and community memory into a unified interpretive environment.
It includes both tangible elements (trees, landforms, pathways, architecture) and intangible heritage (oral histories, cultural practices, ancestral narratives).

Heritagescapes are evaluated not only for historical significance but for their ongoing role in shaping community identity, public memory, and intergenerational learning.
Richland Cemetery and the surrounding ridge, including the 1951 Cemetery Maintenance Building, collectively function as a heritagescape supporting cultural tourism, education, and preservation-based programming.

Bot’s Place will:

• Preserve and amplify African American history in Greenville

• Provide new cultural and economic vitality to the Stone Avenue corridor

• Create intergenerational bridges between elders and youth

• Establish a cultural tourism anchor on the northside

• Support heritage, education, and the arts through a nonprofit model

• Convert an abandoned building into a vibrant public asset

• Serve thousands of visitors annually through tours, workshops, and lodging

5 experiences. 

1 heritagescape.

∞ memories.

⭐ A mission-driven STR for sustainable revenue

Providing ~$32,850/year in lodging income alone.

⭐ A Memory Lab in partnership with Greenville County Library

Digitization, storytelling, workshops, and digital archives.

⭐ AR / VR / Drone-enhanced storytelling

Modern tools to bring historical landscapes to life.

⭐ SC Abandoned Building Revitalization Act Tax Credits

Reducing capital costs by over $100,000.

⭐ A cultural anchor for the Richland Hill Heritage Corridor

Connecting cemetery, community, history, and public memory.

The building has been underutilized for decades.
Previous owners took no action.
Greenville is growing rapidly, and the importance of preserving African American heritage is rising.

Bot’s Place answers a pressing community need:

A place where memory, culture, and community can grow — together.

Richland Cemetery: A Sacred Landscape (Est. 1884)

Richland Cemetery is Greenville’s earliest—and for decades, its principal—African American burial ground. It contains educators, midwives, community leaders, veterans, civil rights figures, and countless unnamed ancestors whose stories shaped the Black experience in Greenville.

This landscape is not only historic—it is active memory, still visited by descendants and still central to community identity.

The Hilltop Cultural Corridor

Between Stone Avenue, Church Street, and the Fern Street gate, a unique cultural corridor emerged:

• Richland Cemetery (1884) – sacred ground

• Phyllis Wheatley Center connection (historic community hub)

• Neighborhood ridge of Black families (20th century)

• Public works labor routes (mid-century)

The 1951 building sits at the gateway to this corridor — closer to Richland Cemetery than any other remaining structure.

Why This Matters Now

Greenville is modernizing rapidly, and many Black heritage sites risk being forgotten. Bot’s Place serves as:

• a protector of memory,

• a storytelling laboratory,

• and a space for the community to reconnect with heritage.

Origin

Built circa 1951 by the City of Greenville as a public works support building, likely housing the largely African American cemetery maintenance crews who cared for Richland and Springwood Cemeteries.

Cultural Significance

This building is a material witness to:

• mid-century segregation in municipal labor

• Black stewardship of sacred spaces

• overlooked histories of public service

• the cultural ecology of Richland Hill

Its survival makes it one of the last intact working structures associated with the cemetery.

Current Condition

For decades:

• underused

• 66%+ vacant

• no income-producing operations

• deteriorating envelope

This qualifies it for the South Carolina Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act, providing major tax benefits.

Future Vision

The building will be reborn as:

Bot’s Place — a Memory Lab, Heritage Hub, and Cultural Lodging Site.

Bot’s Place houses the Richland Memories™ interpretive ecosystem, uniting all experiences under one identity:

5 experiences. 

1 heritagescape.

∞ memories.

⭐ Experience 1 — Witness Tree Trail™ (Nature + History)

A guided or self-guided walking trail among “witness trees”—trees that have silently observed decades, sometimes a century, of African American history.

Interpretive elements include:

• “This tree stood here when…” markers

• ecological + cultural storytelling

• QR-triggered AR overlays

Partners: Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, Forestry experts

Theme : Nature lovers

⭐ Experience 2 — Heroes of Greenville™ Story Tour

An interpretive journey through notable ancestors buried at Richland Cemetery.

Focus:

• educators

• civil rights leaders

• midwives

• artisans

• veterans

• unsung community builders
  
  

Content delivery:

• guided tours

• audio storytelling

• VR biographies

• drone elevation context

Theme: Cultural curious + Historians

⭐ Experience 3 — Roots @ Richland™ Geocache Adventure

A youth- and family-engagement innovation.

Guests locate hidden geocaches containing:

• ancestor quotes

• historical facts

• small symbolic tokens

• kids’ activity clues

Theme: History as a treasure hunt.

⭐ Experience 4 — Elder Message Station (Intergenerational Memory Lab)

At Bot’s Place, elders (80+ always free) may:

• record 60-second introductions about their lives

• leave messages for children

• receive messages from youth visitors

• receive laminated magnolia leaves as symbolic gifts

• be honored on a digital “Elder Wall"

Kids leave drawings, audio messages, and VR “thank you” clips.

Messages are delivered safely via SMS link to elders.

Theme: Legacy Keepers & Story Seekers 

⭐ Experience 5 — VR/AR Memory Gallery (Inside Bot’s Place)

A multi-sensory immersive lab featuring:

• drone flyovers of Richland Cemetery

• AR overlays showing historical scenes

• VR biographical stories

• 360° walkthroughs of historical Greenville

• “Memory Capsules” created by youth
  
  

Theme:  Time-travelers wanted—this is history reimagined in VR.

The lodging suite above Bot’s Place is not a traditional STR.
It is a mission-designed cultural hospitality experience.

Primary Purposes

• financial stability

• donor engagement

• lodging for scholars + artists

• heritage tourism anchor

• immersive site-based learning
  
  

Revenue Channels

1. Airbnb / VRBO baseline

2. Heritage travel direct bookings

3. Academic & cultural visitors

4. Artist-in-residence accommodations

5. Donor benefit nights

6. Retreat + workshop packages

Estimated annual STR revenue: $32,850

Why It Matters

This STR becomes the economic foundation allowing:

• Memory Lab operations

• youth programming

• elder support

• maintenance of the historic building

• match funding for grants

Bot’s Place becomes financially self-sustaining, not grant-dependent.

Land Acquisition

$125,000 

STR Buildout (Upper Floor Addition)

$125,000

• framing + insulation

• electrical, plumbing, HVAC

• windows + exterior

• interior finishes

• furnishings

• safety + egress compliance
  
  

Memory Lab Equipment + Interior Design

$25,000

• VR/AR systems

• drone video integration

• elder message station

• scanners, tablets

• seating, lighting, signage

Total Eligible Rehabilitation Expense: $275,000

This building qualifies.

Income Tax Credit (State of SC)

• 25% of eligible expenses

• $275,000 × 25% = $68,750

• Taken over 3 years

• Assignable to investors, donors, or partners
  
  

Local Property Tax Credit

• Up to 75% reduction

• For 8 years

• Estimated savings: $36,000

Total Tax Credit Benefit: ≈ $104,750

This materially strengthens the project’s financial feasibility.

REVENUE

STR Income: $32,850/year
Program Income (tours, workshops): $13,860/year

Total Annual Revenue: $46,710

EXPENSES

Operating Costs: ~$28,000
Property Tax Credit Savings: –$4,500

Adjusted Expenses: $23,500

NET MISSION SUPPORT

≈ $23,210/year
Funds support:

• youth programming

• elder services

• VR/AR experiences

• Memory Lab workshops

• building upkeep

Satellite Memory Lab

Library provides:

• equipment loans

• technical training

• staff-led workshops
  
  

Bot’s Place provides:

• space

• community access

• programming pathways

Benefits

• improved grant competitiveness

• expansion of library Memory Lab footprint

• increased community trust

Elders (Ages 80+) Free 

“Guests of Honor”

Includes:

• free tours

• free VR access

• free recordings

• laminated magnolia keepsake
  
  

Youth Engagement

• geocache adventure

• drawing table

• elder message station
  
  

Family & School Groups

• packaged tours

• educational worksheets

• curriculum-aligned content
  
  

Church & Neighborhood Partners

• collaboration with Mattoon Presbyterian

• seasonal remembrance events

• oral history projects
  
  

Virtual Reality (VR)

• cemetery flythroughs

• ancestor biographies

• immersive portals
  
  

Augmented Reality (AR)

• overlay historical homes no longer standing

• tree-history overlays

• interpretive markers
  
  

Drone Media

• roof-to-ridge visuals

• aerial context for stories

• 360° cemetery panoramas

Phase 1 — Q1–Q2 2026

• finalize design

• structural evaluation

• tax credit filings
  
  

Phase 2 — Q3–Q4 2026

• STR buildout

• Memory Lab interior

• tech installation
  
  

Phase 3 — Q1 2027

• training

• partnerships

• pilot programming
  
  

Phase 4 — Spring 2027 (Grand Opening)

Bot’s Place: Home of Richland Memories™ launches

Owner / Operator

Leatherwood Matters (Nonprofit)

Staffing Model

• Program Director

• STR Operations Manager

• Tour Guides

• Volunteers

• Librarian Partners

• Youth Interns
  
  

Advisory Roles

• Elders Council

• Cultural Historians

• Master Gardeners

Funding Sources

• STR income

• heritage tourism revenue

• tax credits

• grants (IMLS, NEH, Humanities SC)

• corporate sponsorship

• donor stays

• library partnership
  
  

Core Sustainability Pillar

The STR lodging suite ensures long-term financial independence.

A. Parcel Data

798 E. Stone Ave
TMS: 0039.02-01-018.00
Land Use: Commercial (Storebuilding)

B. Zoning

MX-2 — Mixed Use
Allows lodging + community uses

C. Historical Resources

1951 Public Works Atlas
1980 Greenville News archive
Historic Aerials (1955, 1971)

D. Tax Credit Statute Reference

South Carolina Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act

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END OF STRATEGIC PLAN

Bot’s Place: Home of Richland Memories™