Corridor master plan moves forward
December 12, 2011
Officials proceeding with plans for South Main/Edgefield/Spring Street redevelopment
By Chris Trainor - Index-Journal
Public/private economic development firm Partnership Alliance and consultants Arnett Muldrow are proceeding with the development of a master plan for the revitalization of a portion of the south end of Greenwood, specifically the corridor that connects Uptown Greenwood to the area of Self Regional Medical Center.
Arnett Muldrow consultants will be back in Greenwood this week, gathering information and developing ideas for the master plan that could guide the redevelopment of what has been dubbed the South Main/Edgefield Street/Spring Street corridor. There will be a public meeting at noon Friday at the Federal Building. During that meeting, the design team will share some preliminary ideas about the project and seek feedback from residents and business owners.
Partnership Alliance CEO Mark Warner said he has been in contact with members of the design team and has heard from them about some of their initial ideas for the redevelopment of the South Main/Edgefield Street/Spring Street corridor.
Warner said he couldn’t yet reveal those plans, but said he felt confident the design team would discuss them during Friday’s public meeting. The Partnership CEO said he was more than impressed by Arnett Muldrow’s prospective idea.
“The team has shared an idea with me that just blew my socks off,” Warner said. “We’ve all been looking at this section of the city, and I think it takes these guys with an outside set of eyes to come in and say, ‘What if we did this first and then that second? Look at what that gives you.’ That’s all I’m going to say…Like I say, it blew my socks off.”
Officials said they hope to accomplish several goals with the South Main/Edgefield/Spring Street corridor redevelopment master plan, including:
- Developing conceptual designs for key development and redevelopment sites throughout the district.
- Identifying public infrastructure improvements, focusing on streetscape improvements in key areas of the district.
- Exploring funding options for improvements, including tax increment financing and other creative funding techniques.
- Creating a plan with a clear implementation strategy that would provide a clear plan for accomplishing these goals.
Warner encouraged residents, property owners and business owners from the corridor to attend Friday’s meeting to hear ideas and offer their opinions and ideas.
“That’s the key to this,” he said. “If we don’t get feedback from folks, how do we know what they’ll support and what they’ll get engaged in?”
For more information about Friday’s meeting, please contact Julie Miner: 864-388-1250
