Springdale looks at creating a hub to shop and socialize

Springdale leaders outlined a plan Thursday to transform a two-mile stretch of a busy thoroughfare into the town’s Main Street.

The goal is to make Platt Springs Road a hub for residents and commuters to stop, shop and socialize, a vision officials said probably will take 20 years to realize.

Many ideas will be put in place gradually in the Lexington County community of 2,800 residents that’s a neighbor of Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Cayce and West Columbia.

Developing recommendations such as new paths likely will take five years, Town Administrator Jeff Stilwell said.

The suggestions came from brainstorming sessions this week with residents, merchants and planners. Key ideas include:

▪ A civic center near the airport developed in partnership with Midlands Technical College and Lexington 2 schools, a project that could seat up to 1,000 people.

▪ Expansion of the Town Hall complex to add sports fields and a water park or amphitheater.

▪ Creation of a festival and farmers’ market to attract visitors.

▪ Paths along Bear Branch Creek linking schools and neighborhoods.

▪ Aid to retailers to help improve exterior facades.

Steps like those will attract stores and restaurants to the area and spur redevelopment among those already there, officials agree.

The plan is “the quality of product we want” to guide the town’s future, veteran Councilman Gus Manos said.

Town development standards first must be updated to prepare for the changes and then ways to pay for the recommendations determined, officials said.

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 8:06 PM.