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The Palmetto State is another step closer to getting the top-designated cancer center it lacks as the Medical University of South Carolina's board voted to pursue a new hospital that aims to rival some of the nation's best.

The new cancer hospital will be built on what is now essentially a parking area next to Rutledge Tower on MUSC's campus. It will become part of Hollings Cancer Center.

It is part of Hollings' push to reach the top cancer center designation, and the new facility will make it "so no one has to leave Charleston" for advanced cancer care, said Dr. Don Johnson, who chairs the board's Hollings committee.

South Carolina does not have a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center, unlike neighbors North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Hollings is a NCI-designated Clinical Cancer Center, one rung below, of which there are nine in the country.

Hollings just received a renewal of this status last year from the NCI, which provides nearly $11 million in a five-year grant to support research and its infrastructure. There are 57 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country, which receive a higher level of support, up to $14 million a year in some cases.

But Hollings has a plan to apply to become a Comprehensive Cancer Center during its next NCI grant renewal cycle in 2028. That effort is backed not only by its board but by $15 million next fiscal year from the state Legislature if what is in the current budget proposals is approved.

"It's an important goal for us," said Dr. Raymond N. DuBois, director of Hollings.

The project is part of the board's push to elevate Hollings' status and to have a hospital that "rivals" famed cancer providers M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, Johnson said.

MUSC's leadership, after the April 11 approval, was tasked with immediately beginning the planning and design of the hospital. There is no estimated cost yet. The new cancer hospital will likely have 50-100 beds for inpatients but will also house outpatient cancer treatment, which is the majority of cancer clinical services, Dr. Patrick Cawley, CEO of MUSC Health.

"What we want to do is pull it all together in one," he said.

The trustees also approved moving forward with the demolition and planning for a new building at 334 Calhoun St. in downtown Charleston. The former Charleston Center property had been Charleston County's medical services building before it was sold to a developer for $19.5 million in March 2022. While MUSC at the time said it had no interest in it, MUSC Health purchased the parcel for the same amount in late December 2024, property records show.

That site will eventually house most of the clinical services currently being provided in Rutledge, which will then be renovated for other purposes, Cawley said.

The 334 Calhoun site had been under consideration to also house the new cancer hospital, but the new site is actually better because it is closer to MUSC's main hospital, Cawley said.

"For patients that need ICU care or certain kinds of neurosurgery care that have cancer, they need to go across the street to the main hospital," he said.

Because the site is essentially a parking lot, work can begin on the new hospital even before other services move out of Rutledge Tower, Cawley said.

The new hospital and clinical services is an important part of the push to advance Hollings to the next level.

To get there, the cancer center will generally have to increase the "depth and breadth" of its cancer research, train new cancer researchers and doctors, broaden its community outreach and show it is making a difference in outcomes for its patients, DuBois said. Because Hollings defines its patient base as the entire state, that includes more clinics and centers around the state.

MUSC and Hollings recently announced a new cancer center in Florence, and a clinic in Nexton in Summerville just began seeing patients this week, said Dr. Jason Newman, chief of the Oncology Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence at Hollings.

Orangeburg will be another focus, DuBois said.

"We have to have a presence across the state" in cancer care, said Dr. David J. Cole, president of MUSC. Those sites will also allow Hollings to extend some of its clinical trials out across the state.

Attaining comprehensive status would make Hollings more attractive for clinical trials, DuBois said.

On the research side, the new cancer hospital will also help Hollings find more lab space to recruit more researchers by freeing up space in its current building being used for clinical services, DuBois said.

Hollings has reached $26.2 million in grants from the NCI and, unlike some other centers, has so far not lost any, he said. Hollings expects new grants to come in and is well on its way to its goal of having $30 million in NCI grant funding by the time it applies for comprehensive status, DuBois said.

Those clinical trials can be important for South Carolina patients. After taking over the directorship in 2020, DuBois was able to start a Phase 1 clinical trials unit, which is for cancer therapies first being tested in humans.

Many of those drugs are tried first in patients who have not been helped by standard therapies so "they can enroll in those trials and get newly developed drugs, which in some cases work really well," he said. "Not always, but at least they'll have that opportunity."

Hollings already has a service that looks at the genetic testing of a patient's cancer and can advise doctors on whether there are new treatments for the precise mutations those patients have. Expanding that, particularly to areas where services are lacking, would also benefit patients across the state, DuBois said.

"It's something that we would like to make available to everybody," he said.

More often than not, tipsters, readers, friends, and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? What are the new restaurants? What's everyone talking about? While the Eater 18 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the "it" places of the moment. Enter the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to highlight the spots crowds are flocking to at the moment or generating a big buzz. Folks are asking, "Have you been yet?" Try one of these newbies today.

This month, chef Sean Brock’s Joyland location joins the list.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Chinese American restaurant Jackrabbit Filly moved up the street to a bigger dining room and more prominent location. With the move comes a more extensive menu with exciting new options. Karrage, dumplings, and fried rice are still on the menu, but now there’s also a crab rangoon cheese ball, mapo tofu vol au vent, spicy Korean gnocchi, and Sichuan seafood wonton soup.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Chubby Fish (most recently visited by Martha Stewart) has smartly expanded into the space next door with another cozy nautical space, but this time, the team is focused on world-class cocktails from Christian Favier (formerly of the Ordinary). Rum figures heavily on the list, but there’s also a delicious smoked dirty martini and plenty of fizzy drinks thanks to a fancy Japanese Suntory highball machine. Customers can order snacks from the ever-changing menu, including oysters, crudos, agnolotti, Iberico ham, and more.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

Superstar chef Sean Brock has brought his fast-casual burger/biscuit joint to the Lowcountry. Joyland is Brock’s fun nod to the fast-food joints of yesteryear. Breakfast includes all types of biscuit sandwiches and a breakfast burrito. The lunch and dinner menu includes the Joyburger Deluxe, fried chicken sandwiches, Chicago dogs, Crustburgers, and Joysticks. Most of the menu items can be made gluten-free.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Ice-cold martinis with a side of caviar set the vibe at By the Way, a new upscale lounge and restaurant in Cannonborough/Elliotborough hoping to draw a slightly more mature clientele away from King Street. It’s from Uptown Hospitality Group, the folks behind hotspots like Uptown Social and Bodega, in partnership with Craig Conover and Austen Kroll, two stars of Bravo TV’s Southern Charm. Fairly intimate with the feel of an old-world tavern, By the Way serves a menu of trendy pub fare like ’nduja deviled eggs, poutine, fried oysters with caviar, and steak frites.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.

Chinese American restaurant Jackrabbit Filly moved up the street to a bigger dining room and more prominent location. With the move comes a more extensive menu with exciting new options. Karrage, dumplings, and fried rice are still on the menu, but now there’s also a crab rangoon cheese ball, mapo tofu vol au vent, spicy Korean gnocchi, and Sichuan seafood wonton soup.

The couple behind Wagener Terrace hangout Berkeley’s recently opened their second restaurant, the Archer. They want it to have the same neighborhood vibes but raise the stakes with a full bar and fine dining-level comfort plates. Chef Paul Farmer (formerly of Three Sirens), puts out plates like duck frites, baked oysters, beef stroganoff, chicken liver mousse, and chilled crab dip.

Chubby Fish (most recently visited by Martha Stewart) has smartly expanded into the space next door with another cozy nautical space, but this time, the team is focused on world-class cocktails from Christian Favier (formerly of the Ordinary). Rum figures heavily on the list, but there’s also a delicious smoked dirty martini and plenty of fizzy drinks thanks to a fancy Japanese Suntory highball machine. Customers can order snacks from the ever-changing menu, including oysters, crudos, agnolotti, Iberico ham, and more.

Legami is a new Italian restaurant boasting a chef brought in from Rome by a family with roots in Turin, Italy. Washington Street Hospitality, which controls three Pasta Beach restaurants in New England, thought the King Street building would be another location for Pasta Beach, but decided to switch it up once they got into the historic building. Chef Andrea Congiusta cooks modern Italian fare with some influences from France. “We took inspiration from the classic fine dining, but we also want to have something fun, something that looks very fancy, and something you can crave,” says Congiusta. Dishes include king crab tagliolini, beef Wellington, and veal Milanese.

Modern steakhouse Marbled & Fin is giving all the other steakhouses a run for their money. The expansive dining room fills nightly with well-heeled customers ready to see and be seen. On the menu, chef Eucepe “Cepe” Puntriano includes all the steakhouse classics plus an emphasis on seafood dishes for non-meat eaters. Look for seafood towers, wedge salads, wagyu beef, bone marrow with oysters, creamed spinach, and more.

Superstar chef Sean Brock has brought his fast-casual burger/biscuit joint to the Lowcountry. Joyland is Brock’s fun nod to the fast-food joints of yesteryear. Breakfast includes all types of biscuit sandwiches and a breakfast burrito. The lunch and dinner menu includes the Joyburger Deluxe, fried chicken sandwiches, Chicago dogs, Crustburgers, and Joysticks. Most of the menu items can be made gluten-free.

Chef Micheal Toscano recently opened a taco shop next to his Italian restaurant Le Farfalle. Blanca Estrada is Toscano’s ode to his Mexican mother and grandmother, whose cooking was an early influence on his culinary journey. The kitchen offers a selection of tacos, from cochinita pibil to lengua, several specials, like a lamb neck burrito, and several tequila drinks and pineapple vinegar soda.

Ice-cold martinis with a side of caviar set the vibe at By the Way, a new upscale lounge and restaurant in Cannonborough/Elliotborough hoping to draw a slightly more mature clientele away from King Street. It’s from Uptown Hospitality Group, the folks behind hotspots like Uptown Social and Bodega, in partnership with Craig Conover and Austen Kroll, two stars of Bravo TV’s Southern Charm. Fairly intimate with the feel of an old-world tavern, By the Way serves a menu of trendy pub fare like ’nduja deviled eggs, poutine, fried oysters with caviar, and steak frites.

Charming new hotel the Dunlin offers sweeping views of the Kiawah River, abundant hospitality, and coastal Southern fare in its signature restaurant, Linnette’s. Chef Michael DeCicco puts out dishes like a pressed and pickled watermelon salad, wood-fired oysters, cornmeal-crusted flounder, and a sorghum-benne lacquered steak with charred okra.

The Knockout rounds on "The Voice" have taken out the two South Carolina connections to make it on the singing competition.

Both Grace-Miller Moody and Page Mackenzie have now been eliminated after impressive runs on the program that showcased their unique voices that captured the hearts of the judges, as well as viewers watching nationwide.

Moody, a Florence native and College of Charleston student, was cut in the first episode of the Knockouts on March 31, leaving Adam Levine's team. Charleston native Mackenzie, who now lives in Nashville, Tenn., was then beat out in the second episode, which aired April 7.

Mackenzie was pitted against Alanna Lynise on Kelsea Ballerini's team. Lynise won out for her version of "I'll Never Love Again" by Lady Gaga. Mackenzie sang "You're Still the One" by Shania Twain.

After the episode aired, Mackenzie posted on social media about the way it was edited, which turned her entire practice and performance into a short montage that didn't even include her talking or singing.

"I sang while I was sick, tired and run down, but determined. I gave it everything I had and was proud of what I left on that stage. But it wasn't shown. Just a few seconds cut into a montage," she posted.

This happened to Mackenzie last episode, as well, and she said "it's hard not to feel invisible." She continued on to say she wasn't angry but disappointed, and encouraged her new followers to support all the artists they connect with from the show.

She also asked her newfound fans to follow her band, all-women trio July Moon. Mackenzie said she hopes to catch up with her coach Ballerini for a glass of wine soon. She also thanked her for the amazing journey and for making sure that, even after she was eliminated, she got the chance to tell the audience why she had chosen to sing the song she picked.

"It was a choice to honor women in country music who've fought to be heard," said Mackenzie.

The fight continues for Mackenzie, outside of "The Voice."

Michael and Courtney Zentner's private events company, The Drifter, has become a household name in Charleston's food and beverage community.

The enthusiasm is just as strong among Lowcountry diners who are eager to try the couple's new restaurant, Merci (28 Pitt St.). But they'll have to snag one of its highly coveted 26 seats first.

Merci opened March 22 in downtown Charleston's Harleston Village, a walkable, historic community where few dinner restaurants exist. The new establishment has changed that, bringing European-inspired creations made with local ingredients and an all-French wine list to the neighborhood.

Michael Zentner, who previously cooked at Charleston Grill, is in charge of culinary operations at Merci. Leading large-scale dinners over the past five years has enabled the chef to hone his skills in a way that wasn’t possible when he was working in restaurants. His offering at Merci is an extension of that cooking.

Crispy duck ballotine, snapper crudo, house-made focaccia with stracciatella and Benton's ham, ricotta gnudi and a beef Wellington for two are among the opening options served on pewter pieces and plates from Lucullus Antiques in New Orleans. The menu will gradually shift with the seasons, Zentner said ahead of Merci's opening.

Courtney Zentner led the restaurant's design efforts, collaborating with Helen Rice of Serious Buildings to bring the project to life.

The first floor of a historic Federal-style house, once home to a corner grocery, has been cloaked in a shade of tallow paint, and custom cabinets by Brad Hubbard of The Knotty Log have been installed to frame the back of the small dining room. Art by Charleston-based Super Saturday and Louisa Dunn adds a homey aesthetic and pop of color to the charming space.

Merci is open from 5-10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Reservations open at 9:30 a.m. the week before a desired date. For more information, visit mercichs.com.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Two Charleston-area law firms are investigating the sudden mandatory evacuation of a downtown condominium on behalf of condo owners.

Shuttered balconies and boarded windows line the facade of Dockside Condominiums, shielding public view of the inside of the building that towers over the Charleston Harbor. Owners and renters gathered across the street at Gadsden Park on Wednesday after being denied access for weeks, hoping to retrieve belongings and answers.

Graham Stone, 85, dreamed of a forever home looking over the Cooper River. He was fortunate enough to stay with his daughter after the city leaders ordered a mandatory evacuation of the complex at the end of February, but said many of his neighbors are stranded.

“There are other people that are crying all night because they are about to go bankrupt, a lot of them as a matter of fact. You are on fixed income and all of a sudden you got on the street, you got a big problem,” Stone said.

The Anastopoulo Law Firm and the J. Davis Law Firm launched a class action investigation following the Feb. 28 evacuation of the building, located at 330 Concord St. beside the International African American Museum.

Attorney Roy T. Willey IV said residents have been trying to get some answers about what led to the evacuation and what happens next.

“They have been seeking answers about the situation from all manner of entities, from the city to the engineers, and the truth is that they aren’t getting a lot of answers,” Willey said.

City staff and Dockside officials said they collaborated on an official move-out plan sent to residents on March 28.

Starting on April 14, two units will be packed and moved out at a time. Dockside officials expect the condos to be clear by the end of June or beginning of July, barring any complications.

The city of Charleston ordered residents to evacuate the building by 5 p.m. on Feb. 28. Residents were told to pack their perishable items but to leave behind all furniture.

“What happened in a situation that leads to a 24-hour evacuation where members of our community are told, ‘Take your personal effects, take what clothes you can carry, but don’t take anything else because the building might fall down,‘” he said. “How do we get to that point? There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

The condominiums were built in the 1970s. The order, the city said, came after the Dockside Association Board said their engineering firm recommended the evacuation of the building tower.

“A properly managed and maintained building does not get a 48-hour evacuation notice,” Davis said. “And so our firm has been engaged, together with Roy, to investigate the management, maintenance, capital asset reserves, and understand how it came to be that over 100 people were displaced from their homes on a 24-hour notice.”

The attorneys set up a website, DocksideLawsuit.com, where prior and current residents and owners can provide details that could help the investigation.

“We know that over the course of the last several decades, since the 1970s when this building was first inhabited, that there are a lot of people that have gathered information about this building, that have talked to engineers, that have talked to former construction companies, that have talked to folks that lived here, and at this point, we’re just asking them to come forward,” Willey said.

He said “numerous homeowners” contacted the firms and he expects the investigation to result in “at least one lawsuit,” but did not rule out either a single class-action suit or multiple individual lawsuits.

He said no suit has been filed as of Wednesday and they have not yet determined who might be named as defendants if a lawsuit were to be filed.

“People were kicked out of their homes in February and they know about as much now as they knew then, and it’s enraging. It should be enraging, the amount of information that has been disseminated and provided,” Willey said. “You know, to say it’s a dearth of information puts it mildly.”

Stone said he was told to continue paying his monthly $1,300 and $160 for a parking pass, despite being unable to access his living space.

“People have asked but they keep saying there is so many expenses, legal expenses and that sort of thing. And that’s why we have to keep paying, and if we don’t, basically the building is facing bankruptcy,” Stone said. “I’ve never felt poor in my whole life. Now I feel poor.”

Stone said he spent $10,000 moving into the complex and expects to pay $15,000 to move out because of premiums from moving companies, who are asking tenants to sign releases.

City of Charleston officials said the situation stems from a contractor, SKA, inspecting the building back in 2022.

They were renovating a privately owned unit when they found issues with the column and floor connection, the city said. After inspecting some other parts of the building, they found the structural issues stemmed from problems with the initial construction, but SKA did not deem the building unsafe at the time.

More recently, the Dockside Association hired another engineering firm, WJE, to conduct a more in-depth investigation to assess the load capacity of the floors. This firm sent a letter to the Dockside Association on Feb. 25 that stated the building was unsafe for continued occupancy.

The city immediately initially set a March 7 deadline for the association’s board to provide more details about any structural issues that led to the evacuation recommendation. That request included details on any threat to the townhomes and neighboring properties.

It also set a deadline of March 14 for an evaluation of “the likelihood for a progressive tower floor collapse.”

The Dockside Board of Directors issued a statement on March 7, stating the board was in “frequent communication” with the city of Charleston and were working toward “providing a response timeline as soon as possible regarding any potential threat to neighboring buildings” but said the deadline could not be reasonably met.

“Needed assessments regarding the integrity of our building requires additional testing analysis by our structural engineer. That testing is underway, but this is a complex issue, and we need the analysis to be accurate,” the statement read in part.

The tower building has 112 units, 60 to 70% of which are occupied full-time.

One resident said more than 200 people were affected by the evacuation.

“We were told the problems and that it would all be fixed. It should have already been fixed, that is why we are paying you $1,000 a month,” Stone said. “Who I really feel sorry for are the people who just bought them months before. Put their money in, took a mortgage out, now they are on the street. How does the city morally deal with that?”

Neither Dockside officials nor the city has provided a comment.

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