Sterling community celebrates start of The Huddle at Sterling

GREENVILLE, SC -- At the corner of Calhoun and Jenkins streets, a modest two-story brick building became a legend to generations of high school students in the Sterling Community.

The Huddle gained its fame from grilled-cheese sandwiches, cherry cola floats and a jukebox that played a steady stream of Motown, Stax and even the raspy howls and banging piano of the internationally famous musician Esquerita, who was better known among his fellow Sterling High alums as Eskew Reeder.

But while the Huddle is spoken often in nostalgic tones by alumni and their children and their children’s children, the actual happenings are often left ambiguously hidden behind knowing nods and smiles.

While the past may be vague, the future of that corner is not.

On Thursday morning, some 200 people (the majority wearing Sterling High’s blue and white) took part in a groundbreaking that was really a glorious celebration for 10 long-term rental homes for individuals earning between 60% to 80% of the area median income. Known as the Huddle at Sterling, it will be arranged in five stacked duplexes. Tenant-based vouchers will be accepted at the property.

Site work began in November 2026 and the construction timeline is 14 to 16 months.

It is the creation of the Greenville Housing Fund and The Sterling Land Trust, who starting in 2024 partnered to develop the three parcels just off Dunbar Avenue. The Sterling Land Trust owns the land, after Bon Secours St. Francis Health System supported its purchase through an initial pre-development grant. The City of Greenville aided the work by annexing the property and the street leading to it as well as being a key funder of the Greenville Housing Fund.

But the work didn’t stop there.

Bank of America Charitable Foundation awarded a $250,000 grant for the project in 2025, underscoring the BofA’s commitment to strengthening Greenville communities through affordable housing initiatives. Financing partners include the City of Greenville and CommunityWorks.

Additional key funders include Hollingsworth Funds, Abundance Capital, the Helga Marston Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greenville, The Jolley Foundation, the Jim and Kit Pearce Endowment Fund, and a NeighborWorks America Capital Grant.

Many of these partners took part in the celebration Thursday at the Sterling Community Center, which utilizes the former high school’s gymnasium where thousands of basketball games, graduations and dances were held until a fire swept through the school in September1967 leaving little behind.

“In 1967, we thought Sterling was over,” said Lillian Brock Flemming, city councilwoman and a Sterling High graduate. “But in 2026, it is still here and it is going to be bigger and better than ever.”

Many of those 200 supporters sat in white chairs at tables with blue tablecloths. Others sat in the heavy wooden bleachers that flanked one side of the building overlooking the maple basketball court that still bears the snarling, striped visage of a Tiger, the school’s mascot. Many wore blue shirts with the name Sterling on them. There were a smattering of replica Sterling baseball jerseys and even a few vintage letterman sweaters from a bygone era.

James Thompson, President of the Sterling Land Trust, which has been building toward this day since 2010 when it first organized with a mission to restore the community’s glory and preserve the legacy of the former Sterling High School, said he almost expected the school marching band to come through the double doors and under the scoreboards for one more showstopping performance.

He also took time to make the story even bigger than the dedication. He encouraged attendees to support Sterling High School Memorial Grove, which is a community-led restoration and green space project planned for the site of the former high school. It is about two-thirds of the way to its $250,000.

“The Huddle at Sterling is a testament to what happens when a community believes in its future and works together to make it happen. Today, we celebrate not just the beginning of construction, but the culmination of years of vision, partnership, and commitment. We are proud to honor Sterling's past while investing in its future. This is what meaningful community development looks like,” he said.

A bright future rooted in a respect for the past was a recurring theme for the speakers that included neighborhood association president, Dot Russell; the Rev. Brenda Washington of Minus Chapel UMC; state Rep. Chandra Dillard, whose parents graduated from Sterling; Libba King, the housing fund’s Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Capital Solutions; City Councilwoman Dorothy Dowe and funders Gage Weekes of Hollingsworth Funds, the Rev. Sean Dogan of Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, Ellie Perry of Bank of America, and  Mike Gatchell of Abundance Capital.

A proclamation declaring November 5, 2026, Sterling High School Day in the City of Greenville was read by Mayor Knox White and then a similar honorific was given by County Councilman Alan Mitchell, who also is a Sterling alum.

“The Huddle at Sterling represents a vital step forward for Greenville, proving that we can preserve the rich, historic legacy of our neighborhoods while creating sustainable, long-term options for our workforce,” he said.

Mitchell’s remarks seamlessly transitioned into an impromptu singing of the school’s alma mater that ends with poignant words, “Sterling High School, bless her name.”

That was a motto that Deborah McKetty, the President and CEO of The Greenville Housing Fund, heard often growing. Both of her parents, as well as at least nine aunts and uncles on her mother’s side, went to Sterling.

“As someone who was born and raised in a historic neighborhood in Greenville and has dedicated much of my career to serving communities, The Huddle at Sterling represents a crown jewel achievement. It is a powerful example of what can happen when a community, funders, and partners come together around a shared vision. It is particularly meaningful to me that this project will become part of this historic, established residential neighborhood, honoring its character and legacy while creating new opportunities for the community,” she said.

About Greenville Housing Fund:

The Greenville Housing Fund is a non-profit dedicated to increasing access to safe, quality affordable housing in Greenville County. Since its establishment in 2018, GHF has invested in housing solutions that strengthen neighborhoods and create opportunities for working families and individuals. Through strategic lending, technical assistance, and community partnerships, GHF works to address the region's critical affordable housing needs. Learn more at www.greenvillehousingfund.com.