In what is considered the historic center of Greenville, South Carolina, The Vickers-Cauble Building was completed in 1905 on the corner of Coffee Street and Main Street, facing the Piazza de Bergamo, a place that honors her sister city, Bergamo, Italy.
Originally the building became the home of the Bank of Commerce, the Greenville Public Library, and offices of attorneys. Handsomely designed in an eclectic commercial style, the walls on the first floor were 12 inches thick, with 28 terra cotta relief “garland panels” in the style of Della Robbia, each centered above the windows along both Main and Coffee Streets.
Courtney Shives was influential in restoring and preserving old buildings in Greenville, and purchased the building from the Cauble family in 1986. He removed the “modernized” aluminum cladding and found the remains of one of the finest facades in Greenville: 28 hand finished terra cotta relief panels, each measuring 40 inches wide x 16 inches high.
The relief sculpture was 4 (+-) inches deep. Only one terra cotta panel (over the recessed corner entrance) had survived, the remaining 27 had been hammered away to receive the sheets of aluminum.
Mr. Shives commissioned Jim Craft to re-create all 28 panels in terra cotta to their original dimensions and quality. The building was nominated for a historical restoration award and is listed on the South Carolina Historic Properties Record.