Florence museum discussion raises streetscaping concerns

FLORENCE — The matter of streetscaping must be addressed before progress can be made on building a new Florence Museum of Art, Science and History, Florence City Councilman Steve Powers said.

The issue was raised during the Tuesday morning’s Florence City-County Conference Committee meeting, where the museum and water issues were the items on the agenda.

Powers is chairman of the city committee, while Florence County Councilman Al Bradley serves as chairman of the county post.

“We have come to the table wanting to be involved in the location, the size and wanting to help the county with the museum,” Powers said. “We’re trying to show that there are a lot of other items the city needs to bring to the table. We’re talking about the streetscape.”

Powers has been pushing for streetscapes and “everything else since I was elected to city council in November.” But council has yet to do anything because the cost is astronomical: $300,000 per linear block.

“So, we’ve got a $33 million facility going in (Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center) and we need $1.2 million to do the streetscape,” he said. “I’ll stand up and make that motion every day. We need to do it and I think the same needs to be done here for the museum. If you build a $10 million to $12 million facility, we need to do the streetscapes around it.”

The city has given the county a six-month, $200,000 option to buy land at the corner of Cheves and Dargan streets for the museum near the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center. The option expires in April. Construction has already begun on the performing arts center.

The museum, because of its location in the downtown area, would serve as another anchor for drawing crowds and businesses into downtown Florence.

And considerable discussion Tuesday centered around a $3.9 million grant obtained by state Sen. Hugh Leatherman of Florence toward construction of the new museum. It is a two-for-one grant, which means it is only viable if two other organizations commit $3.9 million. The state is providing an additional $3.9 million that expires after June.

The Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation has agreed to fund one part of the two-for-one state match under certain conditions specified in its commitment to Florence County Council, Florence County Councilman James Schofield said in an earlier interview.

But Powers said the way the grant is written is specific for a building in a certain location. During a Feb. 5 meeting, committee members debated whether the former Kimbrell’s furniture store building could be part of the museum under the funding structure.

“There’s nothing else on the table,” Powers said. “We just want everything on the table before I can go back before city council and say, ‘guys, we need to allocate x amount of dollars.’

“They’re going to want to know things like the size of the building and who’s going to run it. City council wants to help, but we don’t know what we’re building yet. Let’s find out exactly what we’re building and what it’s going to take. Then let’s sit down and say ‘no we can’t do that,’ or ‘yes we will to this.’”

Meanwhile, the water issues discussed were related to the use fire hydrants on private property. The matter is expected to be discussed in greater detail during future meetings.

The committee was formed Jan. 27 to address issues of mutual interest and concern to Florence City Council and Florence County Council. Other city council members on the committee are Billy D. Williams and Buddy Brand, and other county representatives are Russell Culberson and Johnnie Rodgers.

— Lake City News & Post Editor Charles Tomlinson contributed to this report.