The evolution of an almost-forgotten downtown Danville to a vital center of activity isn’t going to happen overnight, city leaders were warned when they visited Greenville, South Carolina, in 2010.
Another former mill town, Greensville began its work about 25 years ago — but it is paying off, with businesses and residents moving in and a downtown that always seems to have several things going on.
Signs that downtown Danville would be making a comeback began slowly. In 2006, Jerry Amburn opened his salon; next door, at the Purple Onion, downtown workers happily had lunch or met after work for dinner. In 2007, Lou’s Antique Mall opened.
Since then, the Purple Onion closed and Jake’s On Main opened in its place. Those three businesses now face the newly-created Main Street Plaza, designed to be a destination with its centerpiece fountain, donated to the city by Japan Tobacco Inc. The effort has been a success: it’s hard to find the plaza deserted and even on Sundays people on the Riverwalk Trail or heading home from church often stop by to visit the fountain and take family photographs posed in front of it.
Some stores — like Rippe’s and Abe Koplan Clothing — hung in during downtown’s decline instead of following many of the other downtown retail stores to the mall or shopping centers along Riverside and Piedmont drives.
Officially dubbed the “River District” following the trip to Greenville (a trip paid for by the Danville Regional Foundation), the foundation’s CEO, Karl Stauber, also offered to pay $75,000 toward the cost of a development plan for the district.
Buildings that have been renovated — the Burton Lofts, Lynn Street Lofts, the Ferrell Building and Pemberton Lofts — filled with residents quickly as they were completed.
Traffic patterns changed and a streetscape project was launched to widen and beautify Main Street sidewalks and is being expanded to Craghead Street this year.
Parking has been studied and a large parking lot was built on Newton Street, within walking distance of The Crossing at the Dan — the one area of the River District that was revitalized prior to the current effort — and Main Street. An enclosed garage is being built at Bridge and Loyal streets and the former Downtowner Motor Lodge site (again the DRF stepped in and picked up the tab for purchasing and demolishing the long-defunct building) is being eyed for future parking expansion.
There have been block parties, musical performances at the centerpiece fountain and festivals downtown, designed to draw people in for a look at how the district is progressing.
Overall, city officials estimate it has spent about $25 million so far on the revitalization project — but City Manager Joe King always smiles when he notes that investment has also inspired about $100 million in private investment.
The work will not be done quickly. Continued work on street and sidewalk improvements throughout the River District will take years and while many of the long-empty buildings have been purchased by developers there are still many more that need new owners able to revitalize them.
This weekend, the public is again invited to see the changes in the district, with a large party planned to unveil new signs welcoming visitors to the district, a new logo and slogan. The sign project took months of work as plans were developed for a coordinated look that would still get visitors to where they wanted to go and point them toward parking.
The party starts 6:30 p.m. Friday at The Crossing at the Dan on Craghead Street. Events for children, live music and a huge fireworks display are some of the events planned for the evening. The event is free and food and beverages will be available for purchase.
Thibodeau reports for the Danville Register & Bee.
No comments:
Post a Comment