By Heather Ruppe
The downtown portion of Walterboro has been a critical part of the city for more than a century. It’s the hub for local business owners. It’s a place for local residents to take a stroll and enjoy shopping and food. Moreover, it can be seen as the entrance into the city’s historical core. East Washington Street, or “Main Street”, leads visitors and residents to many of Walterboro’s historic homes, educational centers, and to the city’s nationally-preserved sites. For these reasons, and a few more, leaders of the City of Walterboro have been working to build a master plan for the downtown area.
This plan has been in process for many years. Now that planning is starting to take shape, as Walterboro City Council and the city’s administrative heads are taking deliberate steps to help boost the city’s downtown area – and to preserve it.
As part of an overall master plan that they are developing for Downtown Walterboro, members of the city’s leadership team will soon submit an application to the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s Main Street South Carolina Program. This is a technical assistance program that helps communities who are revitalizing their historic downtown areas.
According to Jeff Molinari, the town administrator for the City of Walterboro, this program “encourages economic development and historic preservation.” These are two goals that Walterboro leaders have for its downtown.
The application for assistance will happen in September, said Molinari.
The program itself works with many municipalities throughout South Carolina. By working to improve downtown areas, the program focuses on building community pride, creating more jobs, preserving historic buildings and attracting new businesses who want to be in a revitalized downtown district.
In addition to working with the municipal association’s Main Street South Carolina program, Walterboro leaders have also tweaked a local position. The city’s former Tourism Director position has been changed to a Director of Tourism and Downtown Development. “The newly classified position will have a much stronger focus on downtown,” said Molinari.
The person who will be carrying this new role is Scott Grooms, who wills start in his new role on September 12, 2022.
More information on Grooms and his role with the city will be in a future issue of this newspaper.
All of these efforts to keep Walterboro’s downtown area growing and preserved are part of the city’s overall Comprehensive Plan. This is a document that outlines all goals and plans for Walterboro through 2030.
The plan itself was adopted by Walterboro City Council in April of this year and focuses on elected leaders’ vision for the Walterboro community. That vision says the city will build on its historical background, protect and enhance natural resources, and provide more opportunities for residents in the areas of education, art, recreation, culture, industry, commercial growth and tourism.
One of the goals listed in the city’s plan is to “clean and shape” Ireland Creek. Leaders also want to establish rural land programs (like creating a new voluntary agriculture district program) that will protect rural lands in the city.
City leaders also want to manage the city’s historical and cultural resources, create more green space in the city for public use, add to the educational and entertainment line-up at the Walterboro Wildlife Center and Amphitheater, and continue to enhance historic sites in the city.
To achieve this last goal, Walterboro City Council has already adopted the Bailey Bill, which gives incentives to people who renovate and preserve historic commercial buildings in the city’s Historic Overlay District.
The Comprehensive Plan is available for anyone to look through. It is available on the city’s website at www.walterborosc.org.
