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2006 was a busy year
for the See Lancaster Staff. A considerable amount of time was spent in
building and developing alliances with similar types of organizations. These
were both in government and the non-profit world to see what others were
accomplishing in county tourism and Main Street economic development. A more
in-depth look at this is forth coming in our Winter Newsletter in January.
Recently members of City Council and staff along with See Lancaster staff
met with a group from Bennettsville, SC to tour their city and discuss an
Opportunity Grant they were fortunate to be recipients of. The grant had
been used to revitalize their Main Street area while improving the
infrastructure. Like most Main Streets the infrastructure is of concern as
parts of streetscapes or any other revitalization taking place.
After a walking tour of the town and lunch with Bennettsville's City
Council, there was discussion with the members and hand outs were given to
show how the project they had undertaken had very definitive guidelines
for improving the town appearance along with continuing marketing of their
area. Extensive preplanning had been made as to what they wanted to
accomplish in the way of improvements and then how they would market their
city.
Bennettsville was chosen to visit because of its size and similarities to
Lancaster County. Many of their goals were also aligned with the
strategic planning that has taken place in Lancaster and continues.
Creating a viable Main Street and bringing traffic to the Main Street
areas where smaller businesses offer creative and distinctive merchandise
was a primary part of their project description.
One of the most enjoyable and informative parts of the visit was the
stop at their Visitor's Center which is located in the central part of
town. It was the restored historical home of Hugh McColl and made a warm
and friendly Center for visitors to be informed as to what there was to
do and see in the surrounding area.
This "research" trip was just one of many that the See
Lancaster Staff has made during 2006 to create a log of information
for the strategic planning that continues in Lancaster County with the
South Carolina Main Street program as well as the National Main Street
program. As mentioned earlier, a more detailed report will be given in
the See Lancaster Winter Newsletter. We hope to always keep the
general public informed about the accomplishments and operations of
the Main Street goals as well as the Tourism and Marketing goals of
Lancaster County.
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