Florence Developments

[thebarb20]

i tried to delete a message a while back so i erased what i wrote about force protection, i probably said too much, but end of story, i was not pleased with the way that went down and us not landing that company.

[jjoshjl]

Awfully quite... anyone heard any news?

[flotown]

Nothing much has happened in this town even worthy of a post on this board (or should I say bored).

They tried to pass a resolution easing some of the blue laws and several of the Southern Baptists on the city council gave their usual "the bible says...." reasons to maintain the status quo. Talk about giving religion a bad name. They eventually passed a limited resolution allowing QVC to perform some business on Sunday mornings. But I don't expect any change in the local Sunday blue laws in our lifetime.

Between hicks like Morris Anderson and clowns like Ed Robinson, is it any wonder Florence is just "here", with little culture, just subdivisions, slums and interstate sprawl. And just ride down Evans and Dargan and you'll see why the downtown "revitalization" that was so hyped a few years ago is now nothing but a local joke.

Anyone have anything else?

[thebarb20]

calling Morris Anderson a hick is completely unfounded. his contributions to west florence area have been great in recent years. i have no argument w/ mr robinson. disagreeing is one thing , name calling is another.

our subdivisions are pretty tacky . and there seems to be no real plan for urbanization, it would be cool to get stuff condensed to protect the natural areas surround flo that we have. but tel l that to a farmer who makes 10X the money from selling his land than working on it.

i feel like our town has become a corporate pitstop for companies looking to utilitze our low cost labor force and economic development policies

however, i agree that downtown revit is a joke. there will never be any true downtown life again until the bad element is moved out. in other cities higher property values and no govt housing is a good start. in flo though , prop down there will always be rediculously cheap.

being a baptist myself i am inclined to personally feel ok about a blue law, however i do agree that it is not the govt's right to determine what others should or shouldnt do unless it harms others.

Edited June 29, 2007 by thebarb20

[Spartan]

What happened with that bar/restaurant that was supposed to move in?

[thebarb20]

i havent heard anything else about that brew pub thing on dargan st. the last article spoke of it in planning stages

[flotown]

calling Morris Anderson a hick is completely unfounded. his contributions to west florence area have been great in recent years. i have no argument w/ mr robinson. disagreeing is one thing , name calling is another.

Let me then say that his reasoning for opposing the blue law changes ("because the bible says so") SOUNDS like something a hick would say. That's not to disparage Christianity, since I am one myself, nor southern Baptists. The precedent where the majority religion decides when stores open and what can be bought on certain days may serve Mr. Anderson today. But if Florence County was overrun with Muslims and they called for stores shut down during Ramadan "because the Koran says so", would he agree? I doubt it. How about the Jewish community wanting stores closed on Saturday, or forbidding the sale of any pork product because it is unclean. Would Mr. Anderson agree? Probably not.

Regarding the stores opening early, there was a mandate in the law that no employee could be forced to work on Sunday morning. As for the fear that people would shop instead of worship, I can see it now..."I'm going to church so I can worship my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Well.......on second thought, I'd rather go to Wal-Mart." How silly.

Unfortunately, there are also plenty of backward legislators in Columbia with no backbone to override Sanford's veto of a one year moratorium of the silly blue laws.

[flotown]

What happened with that bar/restaurant that was supposed to move in?

If you mean the brewpub, the project is still in the negotiation stages. The only way it can fly is if the city gives the entrepreneurs generous tax breaks, and financing can be acquired. You're talking about a million dollars to fix up the long abandoned theatre and purchase the equipment to run a brewpub. I wish them luck.

Regarding the Dargan and Evans area, I wish McLeod hospital would buy or lease some space. Something to get people into the area. Right now, the long arm of McLeod stops at the overpass.

[Spartan]

Seems to me that the city is missing a major oportunity. With all of the hospital workers hanging around, a good place to start an restaurant district would be near the hospital- even though its not in the center of downtown. People are going to be there anyway- so if a decent restaurant opened up, they might walk over and grab a bite....

[thebarb20]

interesting idea. the hospital section is only a block away from the upcoming arts section so that would fit in well in between. when i worked downtown it frustrated me b/c of the lack of restaurants. it was basicallky wendy's or KFC or circle fountain. it would take half my lunch break to drive somewhere else to eat.

[jjoshjl]

Hmmm..

We all know that there isnt much movement of any kind going on downtown... But part of the problem is awareness. People just don't think about downtown because its been a write off for so many years.

That being said,

We can't wait on the Government to do something. If thats what you guys are waiting on, then it will be a long wait. That isn't a slap at Florence, because this applies to EVERY city. People have no reason to go right now... Period.

So..

That has to change, and it has to start somewhere. I tried to do some stuff downtown (which I will go into shortly) but my partner backed out. I had everything ready, and the City was more than willing to work with me. but, the other side to this decided it wasn't worth the time. Anyway.. If you don't like the way things are being done, then do something.

here is what I did and the City was willing to be an active participant. If someone else wants to try and make it fly.. It's all yours.

I was this close to getting a monthly event downtown where various visual artists and performing artists would perform actually inside the different Downtown Stores. A map would be drawn up showing who's performing what in which store, and it would be like from 6-8pm on a weeknight once a month. The admission was free, and you would charge like a buck for the map if you wanted to buy one. (basically, i stole the idea from the Jacksonville Art Walk in Jacksonville Florida.) It would showcase what downtown COULD offer, and it would showcase the local artists the Florence has to offer.

Anyway, as mentioned, the city was ready to go, but my partner backed out, so it fell through.

Point being. If you don't like where things are, do something to change it.

Cheers

[krazeeboi]

Being proactive is a crucial step, and I applaud you for that. Hopefully something will work out with you or someone else who still realizes the value of downtown.

[thebarb20]

QVC opened up, i hear a roundabout figure of 900 employees by next year and 1200-1500 in the next few years. this sounds good and i'm all for it, im still worried that it does not provide the kind of skilled labor outside the medical profession that our community needs to grow outside of being a low-cost labor leader. force protection would have probably been a step in the right direction had it happened. i think we will get some

announcements later in the year.

[jjoshjl]

QVC opened up, i hear a roundabout figure of 900 employees by next year and 1200-1500 in the next few years. this sounds good and i'm all for it, im still worried that it does not provide the kind of skilled labor outside the medical profession that our community needs to grow outside of being a low-cost labor leader. force protection would have probably been a step in the right direction had it happened. i think we will get some

announcements later in the year.

One of the things to consider with places like this, though a majority of the employees will just be service based type, The technology behind these type of facilities needs a very decent amount of labor as well. Perfect place for someone in the IT or Telecommunications field to look for a job. These are generally high paying jobs as well. Just keep in mind, places like this need support staff as well and those are generally better paying jobs. I wouldn't doubt if at least 10% of those jobs are in the higher paying bracket, so at full steam, that would mean about 120 to 150 high paying jobs. May not sound like a lot, but thats over 100 we didnt have before

Cheers

[thebarb20]

interesting point. i guess i would still be grumped w/ a 10-20% ratio of good jobs to unskilled ones, i guess i should let my negative notions go and be glad we are at least diversifying the workforce somewhat.

[vicupstate]

Florence Museum gets funds, plans new location

Very interesting. I had no idea there were funds set aside for this. Hopefully, the fundraising will be successful. I assume this would go in the "cultural district" being developed DT. Any suggestions on a location?

[krazeeboi]

Can't wait to see renderings for this.

[Charles Pearson]

Florence Museum gets funds, plans new location

Very interesting. I had no idea there were funds set aside for this. Hopefully, the fundraising will be successful. I assume this would go in the "cultural district" being developed DT. Any suggestions on a location?

That's good news to hear! of downtown Florence...a large town that is so deserving of much more with its excellent location between Myrtle Beach and Columbia, and I-95. I can still remember the KRESS store that used be downtown when I was little boy and that certain smell of cashews or "something my best friend from Germany would probably call cheapness" that I used to love "inhaling" in Kress and Woolworth stores back then...I thought about this other day as I was pas (WAS INTERRUPTED BY...work!!!) sing by an old KRESS in lively downtown BERKELEY on my way to catch BART back home to San Francisco. The Berkeley KRESS is now a BOOKSTORE that I sometimes stop in to browsed and buy when I'm too early for my train.

But the Florence of my early years of elementary - middle school (sixties - early seventies) I thought was big 'cause downtown was always packed with people and the buildings were tall, and I was a very shy boy then. I was raised in tiny, rural Johnsonville, SC, with a population then of 882 people. Though my family's household consisted of only my parents who were always busy with their farm, myself who played all the time with my best pal, my dog named "Brownie"...

I haven't seen Florence since 1997. I hardly recognized it with so many new shopping centers and a CIVIC CENTER...But I look forward to seeing it again...I always like the Timrod Park area...which was beautiful with great brick houses and yards. Took my SAT at West Florence High...

Edited July 25, 2007 by Zahc

[Charleston native]

Hmmmm...the link isn't working, vic. Is the newspaper having problems with its website, or is it the link itself?

[vicupstate]

Florence Museum

Trying again

[jjoshjl]

Well, this is very good news.. as mentioned, cant wait to see renderings!

Cheers

[flotown]

Here's the progress on the new Little Theatre on Dargan Street.

Here is the corner of Palmetto and Irby. A Walgreens will be going up on the southwest corner where the pawnshop(with their tacky neon letter sign) and the abandoned motel is now. As for the vacant and decrepit House of Louie property, even the Morning News, in their usually lightweight Saturday thumbs up/down editorial, called for the owners to clean up the property (hopefully they'll use this bully pulpit a little more often, instead of giving feel-good thumb ups every week....leave that to the News & Shopper).

Finally, I've been hearing rumors that the old Piggly Wiggly on Cherokee Road will be rebuilt on adjacent property facing Irby Street. I'm unsure if the present structure will be torn down. It sits on one of the steepest slopes in Florence.

[Spartan]

Thanks for the updates, and pictures! The Little Theater will have a good presence with the library next door. Do you have any renderings of what it will look like when its done?

[digital_sandlapper]

I used to live in Flo-Town, and I really miss it sometimes. It has lots of charms indeed. And, hey, I am sorry to see House of Louie go--I used to love eating there cheap!

But see my post here: http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.ph...st&p=836610 to see why Florence has dropped the ball on at least one hugely important aspect of a liveable, urban center that's particularly dear to my heart.

[flotownscot]

I've been reading the forums for a while, so I decided to finally join and put my $.02 in ever so often.

Is there any chance that Florence, or maybe the Pee Dee region can get it's own sub-forum? I think it would encourage participation.

Edited August 28, 2007 by flotownscot