The Wyche Pavilion is the two-story, open-air shell of a historic building in downtown

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

, used in the 21st century as an event venue. As part of the

Reedy River Industrial District Reedy River Industrial District runs along Reedy River between River Street and Camperdown Way, in Greenville, South Carolina. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is th ...

, the building was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on January 14, 1979. The brick structure was built in 1904 by noted Greenville engineer and industrial architect Joseph Emory Sirrine (1872–1947) with large windows of the same size on both floors, a flat roof, and a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

at its center. The building was intended as a paint shop for the adjacent Greenville Coach Factory, but with the coming of the automobile, the owners of the coach factory sold the business in 1911. In 1925, the building became the home of

Duke's Mayonnaise Duke's Mayonnaise is a condiment created by Eugenia Duke in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1917. Duke's Mayonnaise is the third-largest mayonnaise brand in the United States (behind Hellmann's and Kraft), however its popularity was at first l ...

, a successful enterprise created by Greenville resident Eugenia Thomas Slade Duke (1881–1968). The building was virtually abandoned by 1958 and had fallen into disrepair before it was purchased in the 1980s by the

Peace Center The Peace Center is a performing arts center located in Greenville, South Carolina. It is composed of a concert hall, theater, and amphitheatre. Located adjacent to Falls Park, the center hosts over 300 events each year, including classical mus ...

, a Greenville performing arts complex, which initially intended to restore the building. After financial constraints prevented the remodeling, the building was gutted, turned into an open-air pavilion, and named for Tommy Wyche (1926–2015) and his wife Harriet, leaders in the transformation of downtown Greenville. In 2019, following the development of

Falls Park Falls Park is a public park in north central Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surrounding the city's falls. The Big Sioux River The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United S ...

, the Peace Center proposed to install windows, doors, and

HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HV ...

equipment in order to transform the building into "a fully-functioning performance venue, featuring state of the art sound and lighting". Despite two design proposals, the second of which included a recommendation by city planners, Greenville's Design Review Board rejected the Peace Center plans by a vote of 3–2.Connor.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Historic buildings and structures in the United States 1904 establishments in South Carolina