At the National Main Street Conference in Boston, Mass., on March 27, Downtown Florence was presented the prestigious Great American Main Street Award, which recognizes excellence in comprehensive, preservation-based commercial district revitalization.
Selected by a national jury of industry professionals and leaders in economic development and historic preservation, Downtown Florence was recognized for developing innovative and forward-thinking approaches to creating community buy-in through representative leadership and inclusive programming.
“[The] Downtown Florence Main Street [program] sets a national standard for downtown revitalization rooted in community connections,” said Main Street America Interim President and CEO Hannah White. “Their success demonstrates the power of creative approaches to engaging stakeholders, creating a strong culture of volunteerism, and fostering pathways to increased downtown housing, while also championing the preservation of historic community assets.”
Downtown Florence is now a symbol of progress and a mentor for other communities interested in this work, but that wasn’t always the case. For decades, the downtown suffered from negative public perceptions fueled by empty storefronts, racial divides and a tendency to demolish neglected, yet culturally significant buildings in favor of new construction.
Efforts to change all of this began in 2002 with limited success, until the organization adopted a community-informed revitalization plan in 2011. Through efforts including dedicated volunteers, partnerships and catalytic projects, this plan has helped create over 100 units of new housing, 90 new businesses, and more than $300 million in investment, all while maintaining an average of $7 of private investment for every $1 of public investment.
By combining economic development, historic preservation, adaptive reuse and quality-of-life enhancements, Downtown Florence is experiencing a renaissance
Historic preservation
A key revitalization outcome was reversing the status quo of razing historic buildings for new construction. To achieve this goal, early interventions included adopting a tax increment financing district; nominating the historic district to the National Register of Historic Places; and establishing maintenance and appearance codes and historic overlay districts to facilitate appropriate development.
Unique in this approach was the Main Street program’s use of incentives to help fill gaps, foster tenant improvements, make new requirements palatable for property owners and encourage preservation of historic assets. So far, eight buildings have used state or federal tax credit programs, 56 buildings have utilized the organization’s façade grant program, and 11 structures have used historic building maintenance grants to improve roofs.
Partnership building
Downtown Florence is bridging both physical and metaphorical divides through meaningful conversations and intentional action within the community. In 2019, a data-backed approach to ensure that the program’s board of directors mirrored the makeup of the community yielded this effect. As a result, the North Dargan Street mural project is the latest in the organization’s efforts to honor the legacy of Black entrepreneurship, enhance the downtown’s African American Business District and foster community trust.
Florence’s Main Street program is also known for its robust small business support programming. Through community partnerships with the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and the Francis Marion University Kelley Center for Economic Development, the program provides entrepreneurial support and fosters inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem building. The program has hosted small business pitch contests, one-on-one technical trainings in e-commerce, and regular free and low-cost workshops for small business owners within the district. During COVID-19 disruptions, it expanded its reach to develop and pilot a regional strategy for small business support and communication with the FMU Kelley Center, a program which is now backed by U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funding.
What’s next
Being selected as a GAMSA winner is a major honor. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, since a community can win the award only once, and it represents boundless investment, hard work, tenacity, and vision from local investors and partners, small business owners and residents, government officials and leaders, and the Main Street South Carolina network over the last 20 years.
Once described as too far gone to be saved, downtown Florence has become an attractive place to visit, to live and to do business, and the program isn’t done yet. The award represents a benchmark in the downtown’s history and a promise to the community to continue bringing Florence’s historic commercial core back while ensuring its resiliency in the future.
This recognition comes at a time of many milestones. In Florence, 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of Hotel Florence, regarded by many as downtown’s first major private investment catalyst project, demonstrating the vision for the downtown of the future. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of Florence’s Downtown Public Art Program, which has funded visual arts displays and added permanent collection pieces to the historic commercial landscape. It’s also the fifth anniversary of the Carolina Bank redevelopment in a historic building, and the completion of the Hyatt Hotel and Florence County Judicial Center in the downtown.
Statewide, Main Street South Carolina, a program of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2023, and Downtown Florence’s GAMSA win marks 20 years since the only other community in South Carolina to win the award, Greenville, was recognized as a Great American Main Street.