COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the past year, the South Carolina Commission for the Blind has been upgrading and making repairs to their Columbia campus.
Approximately $7.8 million from the state and federal governments is going to the Commission of the Blind for infrastructure improvements. A little over $5.3 million is allocated to their HVAC system project.
It's out with the old and rusty, and in with the new and shiny.
The South Carolina Commission for the Blind is finally getting a needed facelift.
"This campus was built in the mid-1970s and a lot of repairs and things haven't been done to it over the years, especially the last I'd say 20 years we're looking at, so we're having to play catch up and do a lot of deferred maintenance," said Matthew Daugherty, operations director of the commission.
Daugherty tells News 19 he joined the commission just a few years ago and doesn't know why it's been left in such disrepair.
To him, these upgrades are necessary by means of safety and ADA compliance for the individuals they serve in housing on the Columbia campus.
"They need the ability to be able to go to work, to live independently, to do all the things that we do and our agency exists to make sure that they have all the resources that we can provide them to be able to do that," Daugherty said.
The commission serves young children and families hoping to access school to older adults wanting to run their own businesses.
RELATED: Millions could benefit as teen's restored sight proves effectiveness of gene therapy eyedrops
The fixes encompass their generators, lights in the parking lot, handrails, HVAC system, boiler that's original to the campus in 1974, their courtyard, carpeting, walls, bathrooms, walkways and stairs. Lawmakers explain the state and federal dollars were certainly necessary.
"This agency has done a really great job clearly of keeping that line of communication open with the legislature and they have communicated very clearly how important the services are in the community," said Heather Bauer, district 75 state house representative.
According to district 76 state house representative Leon Howard, the commission had to go through the typical state agency process to receive these funds, as well as the federal government funding process.
"That ways and means subcommittee will either deny or approve their budget request. If it's approved, they will go to our full ways and means committee. From the full ways and means committee it will go to the house of representatives and then the same process reoccurs in the senate," Howard said.
Daugherty explains supply chain issues and worker shortages are to blame for years and years of delays. But he tells News 19 he's thinking positively, envisioning the finished product.
According to the commission, they're hoping all these projects involving upgrades, repairs and ADA compliance should be complete by the mid to late months of 2024.
According to the CDC's Vision Health Initiative, more than 138,000 individuals in South Carolina report blindness or severe difficulty seeing, even with glasses.