'A team effort from every angle'
Town Center project in downtown Mount Pleasant ready for guests
A construction project designed to give downtown Mount Pleasant a fresh new face is all but finalized.
Nine months after going out to bid, the Town Center Civic Space at the corner of Broadway and Main streets is now open for use. Or at least for parking.
“The lot was opened at roughly noon on Friday, and it was used about an hour later,” Michelle Sponseller, the city downtown development director, told city commissioners Monday night.
The project involved shutting down what was Moser Street and pushing parking and greenspace into the space that once housed that roadway. By so doing, the city gained 25 downtown parking spaces and grew four-fold its green space for community events and gatherings, Sponseller said.
“This space has universal accessibility for all ages and abilities, by removing the curbs and adding wider sidewalks and seating areas,” she said.
Some 57 new trees, including maples and elms, are taking root and grass seed has been spread and irrigation is in place to get the expanded green space – well – green.
“About six weeks form now, you’ll see that lovely and green,” Sponseller said.
Picnic tables are expected to be installed by the end of the month, and the public restrooms – a long-missing feature to the downtown community – are expected to be open by Sept. 30, once some backordered fixtures are delivered, Sponseller said.
“We are very pleased to say we are on target,” she said.
The almost-$2.3 million renovation of the had been on the city’s wish list for nearly two decades. It was funded through a combination of state and federal grants, as well as private partnerships and donations. While the final bills haven’t been tabulated yet, Sponseller said she is confident the project will be completed without dipping into taxpayer funds.
Commissioner Maureen Eke asked wondered citizens were aware of the fiscal responsibility. She said she has been privy to online forums where residents were chatting about “money wasted.”
“I don’t think people know exactly where all the sources are for the” funding, she said. “We have not used any general funds to support this particular project.
“I do think it is … important for us to say, ‘Here are our funding sources and this is a great project that will benefit the city. These are the organizations that have funded us.’”
Sponseller countered that the logistics of the project have been on the Downtown Development website in the form of FAQs and information since ground broke early this year. She has spoken on and to multiple local media outlets, and the office regularly provided progress updates on social media.
“I have talked about the funding sources, as the saying goes, until I’m blue in the face,” she said. “Short of skywriting and knocking on every single door, I don’t know how we could have reached more people.
“It was a team effort from every angle you could imagine.”
