Business leaders get update on downtown Florence revitalization

FLORENCE — Sixteen business leaders from local companies met at Florence-Darlington Technical College’s Allied Health Building conference room Wednesday to get an update about plans for downtown Florence.

The attendees then climbed aboard a bus provided by the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority to tour the downtown area. Among the key sites they saw were the McClenaghan building, Fitness Forum, Art Trail Gallery, police substation and the old Bush Recycling site.

Pete Mazzaroni of Roche Carolina and Florence attorney George Jebaily coordinated the event.

“We had a 30-minute lunch at which the attendees were updated about downtown activities,” Mazzaroni said. “We also provided them with a booklet which highlights our past progress and our plans going forward.”

The booklet is titled “Downtown Florence Revitalization Plan Update.” It contains information on the plan update process and schedule. Also included are background materials that summarize the preparations and downtown development that has occurred during the past five years.

“It is vitally important that the area business leaders know that there has been good progress in our revitalization efforts, as well as understand it’s a long process requiring involvement from all aspects of the community,” Mazzaroni said. “A vibrant, attractive downtown is a tremendous asset to these employers, particularly when it comes to recruiting and retention of people. The local business community has to be behind this effort.”

Jebaily is chairman of the committee that is overseeing the revising and updating of the downtown master plan. He is also a former chairman of the Florence Downtown Development Corp.

“As a part of that process we’re meeting with different focus groups to get input and to let everybody know what has happened with regard to downtown and what the future plans are,” Jebaily said. “We are seeking their input into the process so that we can capture as many diverse ideas as possible.

“Now is the time for all segments of our community to come forward and give us their ideas to help us create the vision and help us establish what our future downtown is going to be.”

Jebaily said it’s not his downtown, not your downtown, but our downtown.

“We’re really trying hard to reach out to as many different people and as many different groups as possible over the next eight months,” he said. “This is the beginning of that process and there will be a number of other focus groups as well as public meetings that will be held.

“This meeting today incorporated the feedback session. I firmly believe that one of the most important and beneficial things we can do to help revitalization is keep the public informed of everything that is going on.”

The work process being used to update the Downtown Florence Revitalization Plan is patterned after the successful Greenville downtown revitalization process. The Greenville process was successful largely because the initial plan was adopted, regularly updated and several administrations stayed with the plan and process during a 25-year revitalization period.