westsider28

More info in this P&C article, including a January 22 opening to the public. The old courthouse will be closed during the Jan. 8-19 transition. Also, the new courthouse is 124 feet tall.

The County posted on social media that employees will be moving into the new courthouse January 8-19. They also posted quite a few photos. https://www.facebook.com/SpartanburgCountyGovernment/posts/pfbid021FNCA6Fg8q5XUGWds69ogPyvU7voR1KPt4CekHXjiFAEter8z5Ytcmww8st2L3j7l

Here's a link to the DRB agenda packet for the Jan. 2 meeting. The townhome development is 10 units (impressive density!), 3-stories each (+ rooftop decks, it appears), and intended to be for-sale. Combo of brick and siding (all-brick first floor + extra, mainly siding upper floors). The interior driveway is planned to be made of permeable pavers, which is nice. Some screenshots are below. Overall, it looks like a really solid project to me. With the exception of recommending that a large oak tree is preserved, that entrances to interior units are improved and that the streetscape is shown in more detail, the City consultant recommends approval.

If approved and funded in March or April, construction on the Morgan Square redesign could start in Fall 2024 and would likely take about 8 months to complete Phase 1. Cost would be ~$15M and would be funded by the hospitality tax and private donations. https://www.postandcourier.com/spartanburg/news/spartanburg-morgan-square-redesign-project-2024/article_41d13c58-a022-11ee-90bd-cbd5c2eccb8f.html

The middle of town (Main Street) SHOULD be the place for pedestrians! There's no reason we need cars on Main. Make them go around, it's trivial for cars to go a longer distance. Broad Street makes no sense for pedestrianization because it's "back of house". Pedestrianization should be where the action is, where all the shops and restaurants are. There's a reason that almost every "high street" / Main Street / shopping street in Europe is pedestrians-only. Also, I think Main Street in Greenville should be pedestrianized too, so that's not a compelling alternate example. As for splash pads, why limit a good thing? You can choose whether or not to use it.

Massive piles of dirt as they do site work:

Formal groundbreaking event was held this morning at the site. Excited to see this rise! Photos from City of Spartanburg Facebook page:

Townhomes are planned for 214 and 218 Oakland Avenue (NW corner with St. John). The project will go before the DRB for preliminary approval at their Jan. 2 meeting. Looks like 214 Oakland is zoned DT-5, while 218 Oakland is DT-4. Not sure how that may affect the design. Ideally, I would've liked a small mixed-use building here, but townhomes are still solid infill. And building on a parking lot is always good! Will be interested to see how many are planned and what they'll look like.

I'm confused by this statement. The courthouse plaza and Project Core don't involve closing any additional streets (in fact, Library Street will reopen, and Project Core will have at least one new street). All of downtown should be pedestrian friendly, though that doesn't always mean closing streets to cars. But West Main has been closed to cars (open to people) for 3 years now, with overwhelmingly positive results, so I don't understand why people keep rehashing the closed/open debate still. Also, what is people's obsession with the fountain now? It's a tiny circular fountain that's not usable and just takes up space, vs a new splash pad that would be fun for kids to use and can be turned off to allow additional usable plaza space. Far superior, IMO.

I know they replaced the clock faces (which were wooden and deteriorating), but I thought the bells were still original. While I'm not a fan of the tower either, this is a bit of a callous statement that ignores the attachment that many people have to it (particularly if they donated toward its construction many years ago). I think moving it is a good compromise. Can you explain why you think it looks great where it is? Is it just because you're used to it? Would it not look out of place with a potential 4-story+ development (taller than the clock tower) right next door on the H-J lot? What value does it have in its current location? People rarely spend time at the base of the tower, as it's in the middle of the road. If it were in a more park-like setting in front of the Courthouse, people could hang out there, more easily read the plaque, and appreciate the history better, IMO.

The (original) clocks and bells are from circa-1881 (like the Daniel Morgan statue) and were in the Opera House at the west end of the Square until 1906 (25 years). They moved to the Courthouse on Magnolia Street in 1907 until its demolition in 1958 (51 years). They were in storage for 21 years. The current clock tower was built in 1979 and located at East Main and Liberty. It was moved to its current location in 1986, where's it's been for 37 years. So the tower itself is 42 years old. I wouldn't mind moving it to the Courthouse grounds, where the clocks and bells were for the longest period of time. There will be plenty of space in front of the new courthouse, once the current one is demolished. It would be an appropriate historic location. I've never really liked the standalone clock tower's "small town" vibe. And I love the idea of re-establishing the Square's sight lines and street wall all the way to DMA. There's a pretty detailed summary of the plans on the City website. The Square would be redone in two phases, with Phase 1 being the upper square. It would cost ~$15M and would likely be funded with hospitality taxes primarily, and also some private donations. A formal proposal for funding of Phase 1 is likely for Spring 2024. Additionally, the City has been in discussion with SCDOT about the possibility of changing the surface of N Church St. to better match the Morgan Square pedestrian space. Along with creating a new protective median in the former turning lane into Morgan Square that would no longer be needed, the surface change would serve as a signal to motorists to slow down as they enter an area of increased pedestrian activity.

Agenda packet is up for the Dec. 21 Planning Commission meeting where this project will be looking for site plan approval for Phase 1. Looks solid. Again, I like that they're tying in with Oxford Road. It's going to have a nice big lawn, water feature, wide plaza space, a raised crosswalk/speed-table, bike racks. Looks like a gym and restaurant are planned for the outbuildings. One thing that's a bit concerning: I don't see the Dan Trail being accommodated along West Main (as required in the development agreement, mentioned in my post above). I'd like to be sure that widening of the sidewalk for the trail is indeed happening. Also, it looks like they're eliminating the main front entrance? That's pretty disappointing. The result would be "turning its back" on the street frontage and making the development inward-facing, which is not ideal urban form.

I noticed that. I hope the plans for apartments on that site are still moving forward.

360-degree aerial view of downtown from above the baseball stadium site:

Courthouse update video from November:

Anyone know what happened at the DRB meeting? I wasn't able to make it this time.

Agenda packet was just posted. Streetscape on Church is much better, 8-10 foot wide sidewalks. Broad is a bit lacking, and the consultant calls that out in his review. I wish the corner was more open to the plaza. I realize there's a traffic pole there, but it's awkward to force people (who will be crossing at the corner) to walk around. Otherwise, looks pretty solid. What do y'all think?

Some photos of the crane. I'm a bit surprised they're using a tower crane, but I guess it makes sense given the constrained site (no room for a mobile crane). The crane also gives a decent idea of how tall the hotel will be.

Quick correction (as I've noticed people everywhere making this mistake): Daylight Saving Time is great! Standard Time (which we are in now) sucks.

Haha, was just gonna post. Saw this on IG. Looks a bit smaller (like narrower) than a normal tower crane.

Thanks for the info. I hope they salvage some of the materials (but I'm not holding my breath). The tiles on the roof seem like they could be valuable. And it looks like there are stained glass windows on the Fairview side.

Lots of site work going on when I passed by today:

Saw today that 128 Magnolia (2-story building next to the Children's Museum) is now a co-working space. It's been vacant for years, so it's good to see something finally go in there (even if it's not as good as retail/restaurant).

According to this H-J article, City Council approved a resolution certifying a building at 641 E. Main St. as an abandoned building site under the terms of the South Carolina Abandoned Building Revitalization Act. The action means the building has been unoccupied for at least five years. The building's new owners, 641 E. Main, LLC, are pursuing state tax credits to redevelop the site. The existing structure will be replaced with a two-story office building. The investment will be a minimum of $1.6 million. It's a shame to lose the unique and attractive historic Spanish mission-style home on the site. This is beyond the DRB's purview, so hopefully the replacement building will be sited appropriately and look relatively attractive. There's been quite the flurry of renovations along this stretch of East Main recently. And yet, the Fairview on Main site continues to sit fallow...