A 99-space parking lot will soon be built near the Courtyard by Marriott hotel that is currently under construction on Main Street in downtown Lexington.

The $1 million construction project will pave over where the old Liverman Hospital was along North Church Street between East Butler Street and Corley Street.

“The new hotel is providing parking on-site, and the town is adding a nearly 100-space municipal lot just north of it,” Town of Lexington Mayor Hazel Livingston told the Chronicle in late 2025. “Most hotel guests are already visiting Lexington for business, sports or family, and staying downtown means they can walk to restaurants and shops.”

According to Lexington Transportation Director Randy Edwards, 35% of the 99 spaces will be reserved for overflow parking for hotel guests, while the other spaces will be free to the public. The Marriott will lease the reserved spots, and the Town of Lexington will pay for the construction of the lot, which will also include five electric vehicle charging stations.

Construction on the parking lot is expected to start later this year in August, and take around six months to complete. The grand opening for the 116 E. Main St. hotel is projected for spring 2027.

About the old Liverman Hospital

The new parking lot will be where the old Liverman Hospital was.

Director of the Lexington County Museum J.R. Fennell told the Chronicle that Dr. James Liverman was a North Carolina native who moved to Lexington in 1940 to practice medicine, and his first office was located at 115 West Main St. in downtown Lexington.

“In 1950, Liverman decided to have the hospital that was at the corner of Corley and North Church Street erected. The structure was dedicated on Jan. 10, 1951 according to the cornerstone that is now in our collection here at the museum,” Fennell said. “Dr. Liverman was an obstetrician but also served as a primary care physician for the town. From what I remember, there were originally two entrances due to segregation.”

Liverman's daughter, Lu Liverman Bickley, wrote to the museum that Liverman Hospital, opened by Liverman and his wife, Kathryn, who was a nurse, “was a big thing to the little town of Lexington in 1951.”

At its start, there were about 40 beds, and many of the town’s 20th-century locals were born there. It was later downsized to medical offices and other kinds of offices, since hospitals in Columbia served many Lexington locals. The Lexington Chamber of Commerce office was also located there at the time.

“Many original Lexington people grew up going to this office building to get their teeth checked and new glasses,” Bickley wrote. “Many had a broken arm or leg and got a cast!!! Many can also tell you stories about strep throat, Penicillin shots, allergy shots, running away from or hiding behind a door to avoid the shots, getting sutured up, methiolate, high fever, blood pressure checks, fishhook removal, football physicals, etc.”

Lexington Police Department posted on Facebook in June 2019 that the “building is being prepared for demolition and it is both dangerous and illegal to enter.”

The Town of Lexington owns the property.

The museum has the original cornerstone that reads, “Erected to God and the citizens of Lexington Jan. 10, 1951 Doctors James Stanley Liverman Sr. [and] Joseph Thomas Liverman [and] Architect Harvel W. Koon [and] Contractor Havird & Clamp.”