An artist rendering of the completion of the $10.8 million downtown CenterG project.
An artist rendering showing the lighted walkway across Poinsett Street.
“It’s a landmark day for the City of Greer,” City Administrator Ed Driggers said. “We know this project will be ongoing for the next 18 months but, for many of us, this has been nearly five years in the making. This groundbreaking makes it very real and exciting.
“There has been tremendous synergy as we moved toward this day, so it seemed natural as work begins in our city center to christen this project CenterG,” Driggers said.
Trade Street will be transformed through a shared street design, allowing for easy movement of both vehicles and pedestrians by removing curbs and replacing them with multi-colored pavers and other methods to direct traffic. The removal of curbs also creates an open space, allowing the street to be transformed into a pedestrian plaza for special events.
Greer CPW launched the overall project in mid-2017, repairing and replacing downtown’s aging infrastructure. The utility company is scheduled to complete its water line work on Trade Street over the next six to eight weeks. At the same time, work will begin above ground.
Sossamon Construction, the general contractor headquartered in Gaffney, expects to complete the project by June 30, 2020.
“For the last 15-plus years, we’ve been pretty busy with streetscape work,” Matt Sossamon said. “When (CenterG) came along, it fit our personnel, it fit the timing of a project where we were completing some of our previous streetscape work, and we certainly look forward to building new relationships with new municipalities. So this is a good opportunity. It’s awesome to be a part of such a big project. A lot of focus is going into it.”
Sossamon Construction has completed streetscape projects in Spartanburg, Greenwood, Fountain Inn and Abbeville.
The city improved and resurfaced three parking lots and alleys last summer to provide access to rear entrances at Trade Street businesses.
Three electric vehicles to shuttle customers throughout downtown during construction began free service today.
The city budgeted $150,000 in incentives for downtown merchants to apply for Greenville County Redevelopment Authority façade grants. Eligible merchants could apply for a $10,000 grant – $5,000 from the City of Greer and $5,000 from GCRA. If a merchant invested $5,000, the city also matched those funds, resulting in a total $20,000 grant. Eleven businesses have been awarded grants or have pending grants.
Follow CenterG here.