Strickland Cleaners to be demolished.
City council members voted unanimously Tuesday Oct. 6 authorizing the city manager to submit a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Community Infrastructure application for the demolition of Strickland Dixie Dry Cleaners on Hampton Street.
The grant money and 10% matching funds will be used to purchase the property and demolish the building. Due to the age of the building and damage after the April 13 tornado, the city is concerned about the property being a safety hazard — but they are more interested in the location of the old dry cleaners.
The concrete cinder block front office connects to a large warehouse in front of the Walterboro water tower. The dry cleaners building is over 80 years old and cannot be repaired, but its proximity to the water tower makes the lot ideal to open space for those who want to visit the iconic 133-foot-tall monument, built in 1915.
Glen Strickland and his wife Dean opened the dry cleaning service in 1956, located at 419 Hampton Street, but leased the property and building from Dorothy Guess. He purchased the business from C. F. “Buddy” Beach, and at the time, it was just one of two dry cleaners operating in the county before the days of permanent press. Eventually, the company had five trucks running at once to pick up and deliver clothes throughout the Lowcountry. Dean ran the business while Glen served as the county auditor for 12 years.
After working in the dry cleaning business for 30 years, Glen and Dean Strickland decided to retire and turn it over to their nephew Robert “Mickey” Strickland and his wife Linda in 1987.
Mickey was one of 13 nephews of Glen and Dean who worked on and off at the cleaners. Mickey was nine years old when his Uncle Glen purchased the cleaners, and he spent a lot of time there helping out and playing with his friend Riddick Fields, a deaf mute youngster who had worked part time at the cleaners since he was 13. Fields began working for Beach to help out his impoverished family during the Great Depression, and because he knew so much about the business, he stayed on when the Stricklands took over. Glen and Dean paid for his rent and medication, and Fields became devoted and irreplaceable to the entire Strickland family — and Mickey especially.
Working at the cleaners part time to pay for college, Mickey chose the dry cleaning career mainly because of his experiences with Riddick Fields. He later became a counselor with the South Carolina Department of Vocational Rehabilitation on April 7, 1971. Over the next 30 years, Mickey helped disabled citizens of Colleton and Dorchester Counties find employment. In 1999 he received the “Counselor of the Year” award. But Mickey continued working with Fields at the cleaners when he had time. He often said that if a garment came in missing a tag at the cleaners, they would hand it to Fields, who would know what chemicals to use just by feeling the material.