Downtown Initiatives

The downtown revitalization project began almost a decade ago, and since then, the downtown development office has offered several programs to ignite it.

FAÇADE GRANTS
At least 40 buildings downtown have participated in the façade grants program.

Ray Reich, downtown development manager, said the grants are designed to help businesses not only meet the codes for buildings in downtown, but also to go a step beyond and really make the buildings appealing.

"We want to be their partner," Reich said.

The façade grants are made available to the downtown development office from the city's community development block grants. The city of Sumter usually gives about 7.5 percent of the money the city gets. This year the city got about $400,000, so the downtown development office had $30,000 to give out for facade grants.

Reich said the property owner has to pay at least 25 percent of the cost. But often the grant is an incentive to think about bigger and better things to do with the design of a business.

The maximum they give out now is $10,000, although they used to go up to $20,000.

Reich said they get about $120,000 to $200,000 in requests each year.

"We always have more requests that we have money," he said.

LOW INTEREST LOANS
Eleven downtown businesses have received a loan from the downtown development office's loan program.

The program is a cooperative effort between a group of banks, the Santee Lynches Regional Development Cooperation and the city of Sumter.

The loans are designed to encourage the rehabilitation of downtown buildings and stimulate more business openings.

Reich said the loans can't be used for operational costs.

The loans run for 15 years, with the city's rate interest rate fixed at 2 to 4 percent, and the rates from the banks and Santee Lynches are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Reich said that right now the program doesn't have a lot of money to loan since it already has 11 businesses participating.

But he said he is hoping for a grant that will allow them to replenish the money soon.

WINDOWS DISPLAYS
The newest initiative to spruce up downtown is a program designed to make window displays more appealing.

Reich said the window display program came as a result of the downtown appearance codes.

The city passed an ordinance stating that: no more than 25 percent of the storefront windows can be covered by signs, that the windows shall be kept free of dirt, debris and clutter, that there can be no temporary paper or cardboard signs on the outside of the windows and that all the signage must be kept looking "professional" with no faded lettering.

Reich said the ordinance was passed to encourage business owners to maintain the fronts of their shops.

But he said the window display program goes beyond that and offers the business owners professional designers to help spruce up the window displays to encourage more business.

"Many times they don't have a chance to stand back and look at their business from the point of view of their customers," Reich said. And the "appearance of front of building is as important as advertising."

Reich said the professional designers will begin working with businesses within the next few months.

"Most window design is not expensive," he said. "Just time consuming."



For more information on these programs, call Ray Reich at (803) 436-2535 or visit the Web site at www.sumtersc.gov/Departments/DowntownSumter.aspx.