"If you haven't seen the Island Club building recently," Mayor Pat O'Neil wrote to residents on September 30, "it's worth checking out." The building stands at 1452 Poe Avenue, next to the Fish Fry Shack. In his telling, it has had "impressive renovations over the last couple of years, with partial support from the Town and more support from members and residents."
The order in that sentence matters. The Town owns the building, but most of the money going into it comes from residents. On Saturday, October 17, a lot of that money will come in over three hours, in plastic cups and paper boats of barbecue, at the Taste of Sullivan's Island.
A Building the Town Owns and Neighbors Pay For
The Town set up the Island Club as a social club in 1946. In 2023, The Island Eye News called it a "low-key gathering place" in a community "rich in natural beauty but lacking in facilities." The Town still owns the property and leases it to the Sullivan's Island Club, a nonprofit. In 2025, Council extended that lease to five years. At the club's May 2025 fundraiser, its president described it to Live 5 as the island's "only community center."
The public money on record is small. In 2023, the Town put in $4,500 to get the renovations started. The Town also made a $3,000 grant to the club in January 2026, but that was for SC250 concert performances, not for the building. Set those numbers against the club's fundraising goal of $500,000. The rest of the gap gets closed through dues, donations and events like the one coming up in eleven days.
What the $500,000 Plan Actually Buys
The club worked out its plan with local architect Steve Herlong and David Lugo of Paverscapes. It doesn't make the building bigger. The list is about how the building meets the street and how comfortable it is inside:
- Restore the center door and add a porch
- Improve the patio under the oak tree
- Add a new ADA ramp and an ADA parking space
- Replace concrete with pervious pavers and grass to create a front yard
- Update the restrooms, bar, fixtures and furnishings
- Add hot water
- Add insulation
Hot water and insulation are on the list because a building that has hosted events since 1946 still lacks them. That fits what the 2023 group said it wanted. The club was "not meant to be the biggest or fanciest venue," but "a long-standing fixture that celebrates the spirit of Sullivan's Island and its friendly, laid-back culture."
The club's capital project page says 20 percent of the goal has been raised. The page gives no date for that figure, so treat it as a progress marker, not today's balance. The mayor's note confirms that work has been done. The public record doesn't say which items on the list are finished.
Why the Taste Moved to October
The first Taste of Sullivan's Island was held on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Live 5 reported more than 200 tickets sold that day, along with tastings and a silent auction. Club president Trey Sedalik called it a sell-out.
The 2026 Taste runs noon to 3 p.m. on October 17. Tickets are $100, and children under 3 get in free. Sedalik says the proceeds "will benefit renovations to the historic building." The ticket covers tastes and sips from almost every food and drink business on the island:
| Food | Drink |
|---|---|
| Home Team BBQ | Island Coastal Lager |
| Sullivan's Fish Camp | The Wine Shop |
| Poe's Tavern | Rebel Rabbit High Seltzer |
| Longboard | Dunleavy's Pub |
| High Thyme | |
| Mex 1 | |
| Republic Ice Cream |
Members of the club get early access to Taste tickets. They also get a free private rental each year and a monthly Kids' Night with babysitting. Annual dues are $350 for a family and $250 for an individual, and membership is open to current and former Sullivan's Island residents. The club's October calendar lists weekly yoga, Wednesday electronic chillout sessions, a members-only Kids' Night with a theater class, member coffees and a pumpkin party. All of that already happens in the building the Taste is paying to finish.
The Morning Belongs to Private Gardens
The Taste isn't the only big event on the island that day. The Charleston Horticultural Society and the Garden Conservancy are running an Open Days garden tour on Sullivan's Island from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The two organizers list different counts. CHS describes six private gardens. The Garden Conservancy's bundle page names five: Garden of Dappled Light, The Garden at Brightside, Seabreeze Retreat, The Burroughs Garden and Hydrangea Haven. Bundle tickets are $40 for Garden Conservancy or CHS members and $60 general admission.
The gardens come with credits. Sheila Wertimer of Wertimer + Cline designed the original Garden at Brightside, and Kelly Megeath and Mary T. Dial added to it later. Madison Rice designed Seabreeze Retreat. At The Burroughs Garden, Robert Chestnut did the landscape architecture, Philip Smith built the house, and Steve Herlong designed it.
That puts Herlong's name on both the private house and the plans for the public clubhouse. The tour gardens spend money and design talent on porches, patios and shade around private homes. The Island Club's plan asks for the same things at one shared address: a porch, a better patio under the oak, and grass where concrete used to be. You can see both on the same day, about two hours apart.
The Afternoon Belongs to Runners
At 1 p.m., while the Taste is in full swing, the inaugural Ville to Ville Coastal Relay reaches the island. The Town's fall calendar lists it as a bike relay on the Causeway and Jasper Boulevard from 1 to 6 p.m. The organizer describes a one-day race of about 68 miles from Summerville to Mount Pleasant. Teams of three to six runners cover 12 legs and follow in team vehicles.
Two legs touch the island:
- Leg 10, "The Beach," 6.55 miles. It starts at Mamie P. Whitesides Elementary on Rifle Range Road, crosses the Isle of Palms Connector and finishes at Sunrise Church, 3222 Middle Street. Team vehicles must enter the church lot from Middle Street, because the Jasper Boulevard entrances will be closed.
- Leg 11, "Sullivan's," 4.35 miles. It starts at Sunrise Church and runs to Duffy Baseball Complex on Center Street in Mount Pleasant, crossing the Ben Sawyer Bridge at mile 2.0. The organizer warns runners that the bridge may swing open for boats while they wait. Runners can start arriving at the Duffy transition at 1:30 p.m., and it closes at 6:20 p.m.
For anyone driving off the island to Mount Pleasant that afternoon, the handoff at Sunrise Church and the runners on the Ben Sawyer approach are the parts to plan around. Taste guests coming from the mainland will be crossing that same bridge.
The Rest of the Island's Fall Calendar
The island's calendar stays busy after October 17. Since October 1, winter dog hours apply on the beach. Dogs can be off leash from 5 a.m. to noon and on leash from noon to 5 a.m. Coffee with a Council Member is at Town Hall from 8 to 9 a.m. on October 23. The Sullivan's Island Baptist Church Halloween Fair is free and runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on October 31. The LOWVELO Charity Bike Ride uses island roads on the morning of November 7. Art on the Beach, a self-guided tour of art and food at about 8 to 10 island homes, follows on November 8.
Of all those dates, October 17 is the only one where the money raised stays on the island in a building the Town owns. Tickets are sold through sullivansislandclub.org, and Sedalik's note to the mayor described them as limited.
At Robertson Allen, we see the Island Club rebuild as stewardship carried out by neighbors themselves: a 1946 building kept in use with private money and design talent. If you would like to talk about Sullivan's Island's historic places and what keeps them standing, schedule a private market consultation.
