Columbia gets money to start work on 3 blocks of Main Street

The smell of leather belts wafts through the air, as Allen Rivkin, owner of Mark's Men's Wear on Columbia's Main Street, leans against a glass display stacked with dress shirts and heaves a sigh.

A city streetscaping project, scheduled to begin in late June, will put new sidewalks in front of his store, an improved median on a freshly paved Main Street, and new electrical and water connections for his store.

In the first tangible sign the project is a go, city leaders received a $1 million check in state funds Monday, presented by Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Richland, and Sen. John Courson, R-Richland.

The approximately $8 million project will improve three blocks of Main Street between Hampton and Laurel streets.

It might also frustrate Rivkin's customers as they struggle to snag a parking spot because of bulky construction equipment or can't enter his glass doors because of torn-up sidewalks.

The display might stay packed with the dress shirts.

"We survived the last one," Rivkin said, referring to a city Main Street streetscaping project in the 1970s. "I don't know if we'll survive this one."

"I'm not saying (Main Street) doesn't need improvements," said Rivkin, whose father started the clothing store in 1946 after World War II. "I'm saying there's probably less invasive ways to do it."

Because the 1600 block includes many mom and pop businesses like Rivkin's, city leaders are exploring ways to minimize the impact. The other two blocks are primarily office space.

"For example, we may work on partial blocks on one side of the street instead of working on both sides and creating a war zone like during phase one," said senior assistant city manager Steve Gantt. The $7 million first phase ran from Hampton to Gervais streets.

Another possibility is to do some of the construction work at night.

But that threatens a bustling component of Main Street.

More than 100 apartments and other residential units line the upper levels of the three blocks.

"I think that before they would work at night, they should really have some input from residents, particularly those who face Main Street," said Tom Prioreschi, a downtown developer who has carved downtown lofts and apartments out of old buildings including the Barringer, Kress and Silver's buildings. "That work could be very disruptive."

Mayor Bob Coble said the city would find a compromise.

"Yes, streetscaping work is disruptive," he said. "But you can look at (phase one of) Main, Lady, Gervais streets and see that streetscaping leads to private investment. It's worth it."

Other Main Street business owners like Chuck Kim of Tots to Teens say they'll be OK if the city sticks to its timetable and completes one block every three months.

That wasn't the case with phase one of Main Street, where work on the Meridian office tower and the First Citizens Bank headquarters put the project six months behind.

At least the city's timing is good, Kim said.

"Forty (percent) to 50 percent of our business is around Easter, so summer is a good time for the work," Kim said Monday.

"It looks good up (Main Street,)" he said. "We'd like to have it too."