Main Street Revitalization Efforts Turn a Corner

Having lured its first major retailer on Main Street, revitalization efforts in Columbia, South Carolina's urban corridor seem to be finally paying off.

1 minute read

May 26, 2011, 12:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Jeff Wilkinson reports that city officials have been working for more than a decade to bring new life to the old town center, and things are finally starting to turn around:

"With Mast General Store opening, a new Nickelodeon art house cinema, new restaurants and clubs, an emerging arts scene and almost monthly festivals, markets, tours and crawls, Main Street is becoming livelier than it has been since the department stores fled for the suburbs some three decades ago."

Recent efforts by the city included significant investments in facade improvement.awwqs

Sunday, May 22, 2011 in The State

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