Down Highway 10 toward McCormick, just a few miles outside the bustling Uptown Greenwood, is a community rich with history.

Some call it Promised Land, others call it home.

“When I think of Promised Land, I think of Black folks having a place to call home,” said Greenwood County Councilwoman Edith Childs, who represents the community.

Promised Land is an African American community created by former slaves in the aftermath of the Civil War. Heirs of Samuel Marshall, a white plantation owner, sold the land to the South Carolina Land Commission for $10 per acre. The commission divided up the land into 50 lots and sold them to African Americans.

Many of those in Promised Land are longtime residents.

If you ask Bernice Norman how long she has lived in Promised Land, she will give a short answer: “All my life.”

“I grew up in Promised Land,” she said.

Norman, who just turned 86 years old, said her parents also lived in Promised Land most of their lives.

“I have always enjoyed living in the Promised Land because most people in the Promised Land know each other,” Norman said.

She said younger people have moved to the area but there are still a number of older folks living in the community. She said many in the community attend either Mt. Zion AME Church or Cross Roads Baptist Church. Cross Roads Baptist Church purchased its property in 1892, according to information obtained through Greenwood County’s GIS system.

“Most of the people got to know one another through the church,” Norman said. “I grew up in a very religious family and they believed in attending church.”

Norman, who grew up in a family of eight, said her father was a farmer.

“We just enjoyed being together,” Norman said.

She said she was proud of the achievements of the community organization which included building and staffing a fire department.

As a child, she said she had to walk to school — Promised Land Elementary when it was a two-room school behind Cross Road Baptist Church. When it was time for her to go to Brewer High School, she had to find a way to get to school.

“A man that bought a bus and your parents had to pay him a little something for you to ride to Brewer High School every week on the bus,” Norman said.

She said it was difficult because people did not have a lot of money back then.

Some residents of Promised Land live across Greenwood County’s border with Abbeville County. Over the years, efforts have been made to annex the properties that fall on the Abbeville County side.

“I feel that they haven’t been getting any service from Abbeville County,” Donald “Boot” Robinson, Greenwood County’s first Black county councilman, told the Index-Journal in 1980. “It’s a taxation without representation.”

Robinson, who served two terms on council during the late 1970s, also was instrumental in securing water lines for Promised Land.

Last year, Promised Land lost two longtime advocates. Robinson died in June and longtime Greenwood County School District 50 board member Claude Wright died in September. Wright had been an active member of the Promised Land Association.

“Promised Land — those are some good folks,” Childs said.

Childs estimated that 80-85% of residents own their homes.

“It was an opportunity for them,” Childs said.

Childs said she would like to see the community do something with the old school building.

“It was given for them to grow,” Childs said.

In 1999, District 50 deeded the 3.33-acre property to the Promised Land Association.

Some progress has been made on renovating the school building but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused things to shut down.

“We had set up meetings so that they could come out and talk with the community,” Promised Land Association president Jan Williams said. “But again, the pandemic came up and we agreed to hold off until a later date.”

In July, Tonya Haddock, managing member of Cadence Development LLC, presented a plan to buy the Promised Land School and restore it to its original condition but for new uses such as housing.

Williams said the association would like to see it used as a community center that would provide activities for senior citizens and for after school programs.

“I was hoping that they could take that school and make something out of it,” Norman said. “It’s been there a long time.”

Williams said her organization, formed in 1977, has about 25 members.

In 2016, Greenwood County voters approved $66,326 for the construction of a pedestrian trail in the Promised Land community as part of the Capital Project Sales Tax initiative.

“We expect to have the CPST revenue for the Promised Land Walking Track in October 2021,” Josh Skinner, capital projects coordinator for Greenwood County, said in an email.

Skinner said bids for the project will most likely go out in August or September so that a contractor is ready to go when the funds come in.

The pedestrian trail would be 1,340 feet of walking path constructed around the Promised Land ballfield. It would be used for health and fitness particularly for seniors, the application for funding said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much of the progress the community was making toward renovating certain features of the area to be halted.

“At this time, nothing is going on because of COVID,” Williams said. “We are not even having meetings.”

Williams said the association had planned to have a day of fun but the pandemic caused that to be canceled.

She said the association hopes to get back to work when the pandemic is over.

Contact staff writer James Hicks at jhicks@indexjournal.com or on Twitter @jameshicks3.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 6, 2021

 By JAMES HICKS jhicks@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/promised-land-a-place-to-call-home/article_503e4032-1a44-517a-aec5-cef3ae97126a.html

Unlike any year before, 2020 has affected every facet of life from restaurants to retail businesses to government entities.

Restaurants in the Lakelands were hit very hard by the pandemic. Gov. Henry McMaster’s state of emergency and executive orders forced restaurants to change how they had operated for years.

“It’s been trying,” Howard Corley, owner of Howard’s on Main, said. “It’s cost us a lot.”

Corley said his business has faced additional costs of buying plastic eating utensils instead of using reusable metal utensils. Also, he said catering has not come back. With more usage of virtual meetings and fewer in-person meetings, the catering side of his business has taken a hit.

Restaurants, such as Corley’s, have survived on one key ingredient.

“Our customers have been so loyal,” Corley said. “Just good loyal customers.”

With the novel coronavirus vaccine rolling out to health care workers, hope is in sight.

“I’m going to take it,” Corley said.

He is also going to encourage his employees to take the vaccine when it rolls around to food service workers.

Small businesses were also affected.

“2020 has been extremely difficult for small business owners,” Lara Hudson, Uptown Greenwood Manager, said in an email. “We have only seen two close in Uptown, however the remaining businesses are struggling with less traffic, difficulty getting inventory in their shops and just overall lower spending in general.”

The year saw two businesses close in Uptown, Crossin’s Deli and Main Street Market, while another business, Trapped Cuisine, opened.

Hudson said she believes creativity was the one thing that helped businesses get through the year.

“These small businesses have had to reinvent how they exist and how they run their businesses,” Hudson said. “Many of them had an online presence or e-commerce platform already in place so they were prepared for closures and less traffic and spending.”

Hudson said many Uptown businesses had to completely pivot their business model to stay afloat.

“The community support of our local businesses this year has also been vital,” Hudson said.

Local governmentsGovernment departments also had a tough year while the pandemic raged.

“Local governments faced a pandemic the likes that no one else had seen,” Greenwood County Manager Toby Chappell said in an email. “There was no analogous issue or history to follow.”

Both Greenwood County Council and Greenwood City Council switched to video teleconferencing for a few meetings to reduce in-person meetings. Both councils continued to use forms of this technology throughout the year, ensuring members had a safe way to get together.

“We were forced to close buildings, deal with nervous staff, interpret guidance that was oftentimes ambiguous and all the while serve as a place that people could rely upon to receive accurate and timely information,” Chappell said.

Chappell said governments are prepared for disasters, such as hurricanes, through procedures that can be modified and followed.

“Given the unprecedented nature and the prolonged timing of what we have faced, I am proud of the work that has been done by local governments in South Carolina,” Chappell said.

Government revenue also took a hit in 2020, although compared to others, it was a mixed bag.

“We fared 2020 relatively well with only minor projected decreases in revenue anticipated for our 2021 budget,” Greenwood City Manager Julie Wilkie said in an email. “We will have to keep a very close eye on both revenues and expenditures as we navigate the next 6 months.”

Wilkie said while the city’s hospitality tax collections were down $49,000 compared to 2019, the accommodation tax collections were up $3,600.

It was slightly different for Greenwood County. Chappell said county accommodations tax revenue was down 39% compared to 2019, while Capital Project Sales Tax collections and hospitality tax collections were both up 14% and 6% respectively.

“Since A-tax is so closely tied to travel, it only makes sense that this would be most heavily impacted by COVID,” Chappell said.

Chappell said the pandemic did not cancel any projects in 2020, some did get the level of attention that they would have during non-pandemic times. He said restoring the floors in the courthouse by the facility maintenance department had to be temporarily halted because of change in their work related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wilkie said early talks of constructing a new public works and fleet management facility were halted because of the pandemic.

Overall, she said the city did quite well during the pandemic.

“We were diligent in monitoring expenditures for worst case scenarios, many departments were forced to freeze positions,” Wilkie said. “We have a very resilient staff that put their heads together to continue to thrive.”

Stopping trials bloats

local docketsCrime never sleeps, but when a global pandemic makes it unwise to pack jurors into a courtroom, trials have had to take a rest this year.

In-person court and all criminal jury trials were suspended in mid-March, brought back at the end of July and then halted again Dec. 4. Hearings that used to be held in courtrooms moved to WebEx and Zoom screens, and plastic partitions went up in courthouses across the state.

“Doing things online was a whole different world,” said Greenwood County Clerk of Court Chastity Copeland. “Now though, it’s like the new normal.”

Online meeting software and record filings let attorneys go on about their business while state court administrators figured out ways to safely bring the criminal justice system back. In August, the 8th Circuit Solicitor’s Office brought the first jury case to trial in the state after trial restrictions were lifted, but the courtroom looked drastically different. Partitions separated the judge from the witness stand, seating was spread out to allow for physical distancing and everyone wore masks or face shields to guard themselves and those around them.

“We have done everything in our power, in light of our limited resources in the 8th Circuit, to be at the forefront of this crisis and continue to work our dockets,” Solicitor David Stumbo said.

Still, court stoppages have meant cases that would have gone to trial this year have sat dormant while new warrants are still being served. The year added about 4,500 new warrants to the 8th Circuit’s docket — about 300 more warrants for the 14 general sessions prosecutors in the circuit.

“I fear it will take a few years to get these numbers back to the December 2019 levels with our current staffing,” Stumbo said. “This reality burdens me, but my staff and I will continue to do everything in our power to overcome this as we work one case at a time to get the greatest amount of justice that we can in each case. No matter how long it takes.”

The novel coronavirus has crept into every aspect of our lives in 2020, making decisions for us, leaving us mired in uncertainty, and education was no exception.

Education adjustingSchools were shut down in March, by McMaster, leaving educators and parents scrambling to keep the children’s education going.

“I think in the beginning there was a lot of uncertainty,” Kerri Pratt, an 11th-grade teacher at Ware Shoals High School, said. “This was something none of us had ever experienced, I felt so unprepared as both a teacher and a parent.”

Although the beginning of the pandemic was uncertain, parents and students got into the swing of things as time went on.

“I feel like I communicated more with parents than before,” Pratt said, adding that families, students and teachers had no choice but to get comfortable with technology.

Of course, virtual learning is not for everyone. It requires skills in time management, which can take some time to get used to.

“Our teachers have been so good at extending grace and working with students that struggle,” Pratt said.

Children were forced to become independent learners, which according to Pratt isn’t a bad thing, but they did need some time for adjustment. “I think that’s what disrupted education the most,” Pratt said.

While students were learning to adapt to virtual learning and an A/B schedule, sports and extracurricular activities were also canceled.

“I think it disrupted the community connection,” Pratt said. “Our community loves to come to our sporting events.”

Pratt is hopeful that with all the adversity that this year has brought us, the teachers will come out stronger.

“This has shown us that we need to be flexible and adapt,” Pratt said. “There’s just a learning curve with all of this.”

Lost art: Cultural arts,

entertainment among hardest hit in 2020The performing arts sector has been among the first to close and the last to reopen amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Stephen Gilbert, executive director of Greenwood Community Theatre says the 300-seat theater is “in survival mode.”

“The current focus is trying to make enough money to function month-to-month, for our mortgage, utilities, salaries and insurance,” Gilbert said. “Looking back at 2020, we had a loss of approximately $300,000 in revenue, almost exclusively related to lost ticket sales and sponsorships. Most grants and sponsorships are tied to our programming, such as shows, outreach and our Penguin Project (a theater program pairing disabled actors on stage with peer mentors in a modified Broadway musical).”

Incredibly, the Downtown Abbeville Merchants Association was able to host all of its 2020 events, including a summer wine walk in July that sold-out and holiday events this fall.

Paige Bowser, owner of Breezy Quarters, and vice president of the Downtown Abbeville Merchants Association said the group plans to proceed into 2021 “better than ever.”

“We have been careful to encourage safety in our community by encouraging mask-wearing and social distancing,” Bowser said. “Our first priority has been keeping people aware of what’s available in Abbeville and supporting merchants who did need to close, with awareness of their alternative plans, such as offering take-out or changed business hours.”

Karen Jennings, executive director of The Museum and Railroad Historical Center in Greenwood said that for the first two-thirds of 2020, those two nonprofits were unable to fundraise, but supporters of the nonprofits have continued staunch support.

“Federal grants for nonprofits helped keep us going during that time, and our supporters have continued to be generous, “ Jennings said. “We are fortunate the Railroad Historical Center has outdoor space, so we have more flexibility in fundraising events there.”

Normally, by this time of year, the McCormick Arts Council at the Keturah would have a roughly 80 percent estimate on the picture of year-end giving, according to Heather McNally, director of programming and development.

“We’ve had consistent growth in our development program each of the last five years,” McNally said. “But, it’s unclear yet on the giving amount for larger gifts.”

By July 2020, McNally said MACK had already amassed a loss of $24,000 from programming revenue and she said total shortfalls could be much greater.

However, even in these pandemic times, McNally said MACK has received a combined charitable gift of $2.6 million through the Yoder Rosenberg Family Foundation.

Funds are for rehabilitation and maintenance of the historic building that houses the MACK and funds are being used for an educational scholarship and youth programs.

“In our 35th anniversary year, we got a pandemic and it hasn’t gone away,” McNally said. “We’ve had to rethink. For example, this summer, we partnered with Clemson Extension and our library. We provided creativity kits instead of our usual on-site summer arts program for youths.”

Lisa Sanders, executive director of Greenwood Performing Arts, stepped into that role in October after a long banking career.

“I felt like it was more important than ever for us to have music and entertainment,” Sanders said. “We did have to cancel two fall events that were to be at Greenwood Community Theatre, but have partnered with others to do socially distanced concerts outdoors with Lander and at venues Uptown with limited audiences.”

Ticket sales revenue is down at the Abbeville Opera House, according to Mike Clary, Abbeville community development director.

“I think it’s safe to say $75,000 to $100,000 in ticket sales revenue has been lost,” Clary said. “The loss of events at the Abbeville Opera House during this time has been especially hard on commerce here…It’s difficult to replace the 200 to 1,000 visitors each weekend that events at the Opera House would bring in.”

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Dec 26, 2020

By  From staff reports
Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/2020-the-year-that-wont-be-missed/article_fc016df9-722c-514f-a652-d493a8b3d78d.html

One of the largest projects on the 2016 Capital Project Sales Tax initiative slate of projects is the construction of a spec building at the North Greenwood Industrial Park. On Friday, Greenwood County Council cut the ribbon on that key economic development project.

“It’s been a countywide effort,” CPST coordinator Josh Skinner said.

The 100,000-square-foot building features 112 pre-cast insulated concrete panels, 40 VELUX skylights, four loading dock doors installed by Lakeland Overhead Door and a 50,000-square-foot pad in the back for expansion, Skinner said.

Greenwood County interim economic development director James Bateman said this is the first of three new Palmetto Sites in South Carolina.

The Palmetto Sites program is run by the state Department of Commerce. The program checks industrial sites for tenant readiness and gives the designation for sites that pass. Only three other sites have been given this designation.

This spec building gives Greenwood County something it has been missing out on.

“Greenwood County has been missing new Class A industrial product for a long time,” Bateman said. “Now we are no longer missing those opportunities.”

Councilman Theo Lane, who represents the area where the building is located, agreed.

“In 2015, the Greenwood County Council had the vision to realize we were losing out on opportunities for visits from site selection professionals,” Lane said. “Our success in Greenwood County had made us short on product.”

The spec building is on Highway 25 in Hodges just north of Diana Pet Food, Colgate-Palmolive and Caterpillar.

“I feel great that we could about accommodate everyone’s needs who want to call Greenwood home,” Lane said.

Lane said the building can be expanded by 100,000 square feet depending on the needs of the industrial tenants.

“This is a good size building, 100,000 square feet with expansion options,” Trey Pennington, senior vice president of advisory and transaction services at CBRE, said. “It gives you a lot of options to attract businesses.”

CBRE has been contracted by the county to market the spec building worldwide.

Pennington said the market for industrial sites is very good right now. Bringing in an industrial tenant will not only bring tax revenue but also could provide more jobs.

“It’s going to help Greenwood attract businesses,” Pennington said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Nov 21, 2020

 By JAMES HICKS jhicks@indexjournal.com

 Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/county-council-cuts-the-ribbon-at-ngip/article_03f0d7aa-2a0e-52e0-ba85-f3e08102b4ce.html

Greenwood County saw its largest payment of revenue from the Capital Project Sales Tax in October.

“We are glad to see the economy turn around,” Greenwood County manager Toby Chappell said. “It obviously helps the Capital Project Sales Tax.”

The county received $2,745,695.30 in its October 2020 payment, which was an increase from the July 2020 payment where only $2,152,632.49 was collected.

“It clearly rebounded from July to October,” Chappell said.

October’s revenue eclipsed the project’s record of $2,575,580.04 set in April 2020.

The outlook for the project is continually looking better. In August, Chappell announced the anticipated shortfall was not as bad as it had once seemed at only $10 million rather than $20 million.

While there is still a question of how many projects will ultimately get finished, a number have already been completed. Capital Project Sales Tax Coordinator Josh Skinner provided an update on the project list:

The Upstate Center for Manufacturing Excellence on the campus of Piedmont Technical College and the implementation of a countywide public safety radio system have been completed. The county signed a contract Thursday with Davis and Floyd to begin the construction of parks for Hodges, Troy, Magnolia, Foundry and Grace Street, Skinner said in an email.

A contractor has been selected for the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Site, however, extra funds are still being sought to meet the contract bid amount. The Lake Greenwood Master Plan final plan designs will be presented to Greenwood County Council in December.

The athletic facility upgrades projects are in Phase 1. Construction is complete on a new basketball court and walking paths in Young Park in Ware Shoals. The design for the J.C. Boozer Athletic Complex is at 90% with bidding tentatively scheduled for early next year, Skinner said.

The North Greenwood Industrial Park spec building on Highway 25 has been completed.

The next set of revenue payments in January and April of 2021 will go to the next project: widening Highway 246. The next two payments will be directed toward the Ninety Six Storm Water Drainage repair and to finish paying for fire trucks and volunteer fire stations, Skinner said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Nov 13, 2020

 By JAMES HICKS jhicks@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/cpst-receives-record-revenue/article_96244c95-6984-5227-9eeb-8afc4de63352.html

Assuming revenue from capital project sales tax collections remains flat, Greenwood County officials estimate the penny tax will bring in $10 million less than initially projected — up from an anticipated $20 million shortfall forecast this time last year.

Greenwood County Manager Toby Chappell made the announcement Aug. 28 during the State of the City/County presentation, the same platform used to acknowledge the potential shortfall in 2019.

To reach that figure, the county took the past four quarters of collections and adjusted for COVID-19 and internet sales.

Chappell provided a breakdown of the revenues received from the Capital Project Sales Tax by quarter to explain how this figure was reached. The July 2020 collection is the first where the county sees the effect of COVID-19, Chappell said. July’s collection was $2,152,632. To calculate an estimate for future collections that adjusted for a pandemic-related reduction in revenue, the county took the average of October 2019 and January 2020. April’s revenue was excluded because it is always higher than most quarters because of Christmas holiday shopping.

The new revenue projection for July in future years is $2,417,471. Once July’s new figure is included with the other three quarters the total is $9,827,994 or $2,456,998 per quarter on average. When this figure is added with the existing collections and interest, it projects a total revenue of $77,455,845, which results in a $10,482,340 deficit.

Chappell said the $10 million deficit is based on a zero increase in collections for the next 20 quarters. He said this is unlikely because the county has seen growth each year.

“For example, over the last year we saw 5.4% growth even with COVID hampering sales,” Chappell said in an email.

The 5.4% growth was comparing collections from October 2019 to July 2019 to those from October 2019 to July 2020.

Completed, in-progress projectsCPST projects completed to date include Piedmont Technical College’s Advanced Manufacturing Center, a $6 million project, and the implementation of a countywide public safety radio system, a nearly $5 million project.

Several projects are in the design phase. The conceptual plans on all of the parks in phase one of the parks and trails project have been completed and design firms are beginning to design. Conceptual plans on the Lake Greenwood Master Plan have been presented to County Council and the design firm are working on a design plan.

A design team is working on a conceptual design for the J.C. “Fox” Boozer Sports Complex as part of the athletic facilities renovation project. The county can start working on Young Park in Ware Shoals at any time.

Design work has been completed on the Benjamin E. Mays Historical site expansion. The county is working on bringing the cost in line with the budget.

The North Greenwood Industrial Park spec building is expected to be completed in November, finishing phase one of that project.

The Town of Ware Shoals has obtained its DHEC permit for its treatment lines and it is working on easement acquisition.

Ninety Six Commissioners of Public Works have selected a design team and are in the environment review process with DHEC on replacing water lines in the town.

Two new fire stations have opened as part of the Fire Master Plan phase one. The Bradley Fire Station opened in April and the new station on Carter Road opened Friday. Apparatus for each fire station has been purchased and is in use.

‘Wise and prudent decision’At the opening of the Carter Road fire station Friday, Chairman Steve Brown took the opportunity to thank county residents for supporting the penny sales tax.

“We are also appreciative of the people of Greenwood County,” Brown said.

He said voters came together in supporting the tax so that services could be provided to other places in the county.

Councilman Theo Lane said in a phone interview about the Capital Project Sales Tax that voters made the right decision.

“I just think it is very clear now that the Greenwood voters made a wise and prudent decision that’s placed us in a much better position from the standpoint of public safety, quality of life, workforce development, economic development,” Lane, who chaired the CPST marketing effort for the Greenwood SC Chamber of Commerce, said. “It’s all coming to fruition now and will only get stronger with the passing of time and collection of dollars that allow for more investment.”

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Sep 6, 2020

By JAMES HICKS jhicks@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/chappell-cpsts-potential-deficit-shrinking-projects-being-completed/article_3f0ac2d6-2695-5213-ad87-576fda753be9.html