DENMARK, S.C. - A cost benefit analysis of the Denmark revitalization plan, approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission in August, concluded Monday night with the group giving the U.S. 321 streetscape proposal the highest priority for funding and implementation.
Project director Harry Crissy, a community and economic development agent with Clemson University Extension Service, presented the commission members with the six specific components of the overall revitalization plan in an attempt to determine which element they wished to pursue first.
The panel voted unanimously to combine two elements the 321 streetscape plus a new outer veneer on the Denmark City Hall and the city-owned Dane Theatre into one. While the desire to renovate city hall was compelling, in the end the commission decided that implementation of the downtown streetscape would provide a better long-term benefit to Denmark. A choice to revitalize Magnolia Avenue with a student-oriented retail center came in a distant third to the top priority.
"I used state-of-the-art materials in my cost estimates," Crissy said. "The cost to do the streetscape was estimated at $235,000, but I believe it is worth a shot to present the facade work on city hall and the theatre as part of the overall streetscape project to the state Department of Commerce."
He said the streetscape costs include all the landscaping.
Even so, it will take a few months to identify a funding source for the work, Crissy said.
Commission members indicated they would like to modify the original streetscape plan to include a four-foot median and parking spaces on both sides.
The state Department of Transportation could still veto any or all parts of the streetscape plans, Crissy said. At the commissions request, he said he would begin talks with DOT to find out what it will approve before any implementation takes place.
During recent discussions with S.C. House District 90 Rep. Bakari Sellers of Denmark, Crissy noted the legislator was open to the idea of augmenting grant funds secured by Denmark city officials to build a new library next to Denmark City Hall.
Cost estimates for the other four elements of the full revitalization plan presented to the commission were Magnolia Street, $75,000; recreation center, $1 million; bike/walking path, $144,000 and bowling alley, $300,000.
Crissy said if Denmark eventually chose to do the bowling alley, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity like the old Downtown Denmark Association, would have to be formed since the city could not own a commercial entity. He also suggested that acquisition of the property at the corner of U.S. 321 and 78 by the Southern Carolina Alliance would probably have to occur in order to make an Internet or regular cafe at that site a reality.
"We also did a public design workshop in Bamberg on (Oct. 18) similar to the one we did in Denmark last December," Crissy said. "What was surprising to me is they expressed a strong interest in connecting a bike/walking path of their own to one here in Denmark. That could lead to opening lines of communication between the two communities."
The panel authorized Crissy to identify a landscape architect and the funding necessary to create working drawings for the streetscape while gaining Clemsons assistance with the design.
T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540.