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Here is some info from the article - regarding the FMU part (not sure if this was posted here yet)
The travel center will be just off of Interstate 95 in between Columbia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It will anchor an 80-acre retail/hospitality development that will be part of a 500-acre multiuse park, according to Buc-ee's. The initial phase of the retail/hospitality area includes eight pad-ready outparcels, and the park also offers 190 acres of industrial/research development tracts and 225 acres for research, education and greenspace. Francis Marion University Campus will build its new Fresh Water Ecology Research and Conference Center along a 20-acre spring-fed lake.
Well that explains it... Ecology Center needs be near something "ecological" so that it can be studied ..LOL Though I would have thought there would be something similar in all those woods around the main campus... LOL.. The Conference Center on I-95 can take advantage of the location and the views of the 20 acre lake.. So.. I guess that is a good investment.. I need to find out what FMU's master plan/vision is.. They seem to be doing al lot with development downtown and now this site.. .just not sure to what end...
That entire site next to 95 and 327 would have been a nice place for the FMU campus.. Just being on 95 alone is free advertisement in terms of people knowing you exist.. FMU still seems to be doing well though from an enrollment and majors perspective
Florence has NESA the North Eastern Strategic Alliance but it doesn’t seem like they have had much success compared to the Upstate and Low Country recruiting industry to the area. I believe Florence is in the optimal location for growth it just seem to be so slow. I think the region needs to start focusing on retirees, although I’m in my 30’s and far from retirement, I believe if the Eastern part of the county Hwy 327 and towards the Pee Dee river started focusing on building golf courses and designing some type of man made water feature connected to the Pee Dee river with maybe a few retirement communities. This would be a boon for the area, right off I-95, easy access to the beach... maybe shuttles or even a train back and forth to the beach. The possibilities are endless.
Florence has NESA the North Eastern Strategic Alliance but it doesn’t seem like they have had much success compared to the Upstate and Low Country recruiting industry to the area. I believe Florence is in the optimal location for growth it just seem to be so slow. I think the region needs to start focusing on retirees, although I’m in my 30’s and far from retirement, I believe if the Eastern part of the county Hwy 327 and towards the Pee Dee river started focusing on building golf courses and designing some type of man made water feature connected to the Pee Dee river with maybe a few retirement communities. This would be a boon for the area, right off I-95, easy access to the beach... maybe shuttles or even a train back and forth to the beach. The possibilities are endless.
Yeah.. the train to the beach would be an interesting idea. I believe the track that runs from Conway to Myrtle Beach actually heads north into North Carolina and the lines that run through Marion et al run north to south and the track out of Florence heads north to Dillon.. so it would have to be a new line created from the western edge of Marion County down into Horry as opposed to existing tracks. which is unfortunate.
Is the Pee Dee River a navigable river? I know I see canoes and kayaks in it but I dont know about leisure boats. Just on the map.. it looks like you could sail all the way to Georgetown LOL... But to your point could it create an entirely new opportunity for retirees and recreational boaters and encourage a few to live in the eastern end of Florence County near the river and to have access. It would certainly be cheaper than living in Horry County and Florence is more of a "city" than most of the places outside of Myrtle Beach.
Personally, the Pee Dee River scares the hell out of me... It remind me of the Amazon as it runs through the woods.. its deep in many areas that may look shallow and the water is murky as hell.. I can see the angler Jeremy Wade from Animal Planet easily pulling a River Monster out of it during one of his visits. It is very unruly and seems to have a huge flood zone...I was in Cheraw and my friends there showed me where the high water mark was when it flooded several years ago.. It could have taken out the downtown area which is not even on the banks on the river....
Last edited by Woodlands; 04-07-2021 at 08:09 PM..
I agree the Pee Dee river is scary, and unruly not sure how to overcome that. If the infrastructure bill passes there will be a lot of money around maybe even enough to build I-73 to the beach. Even though I think an expressway from the beach to Florence up 327 would be better but that’s just my greediness in wanting to see Florence flourish and prosper. I really wish we had some sort of citizen committee that came up with ideas that would bring investors, corporations, average citizens and elected officials together to brainstorm on items to improve the area. This is the United States of American and there is so much seed money and investments that can be tapped in locally and even Internationally to make these pie in the sky dreams come true only if you can get the right people together. Florence has so much untapped potential!
I agree the Pee Dee river is scary, and unruly not sure how to overcome that. If the infrastructure bill passes there will be a lot of money around maybe even enough to build I-73 to the beach. Even though I think an expressway from the beach to Florence up 327 would be better but that’s just my greediness in wanting to see Florence flourish and prosper. I really wish we had some sort of citizen committee that came up with ideas that would bring investors, corporations, average citizens and elected officials together to brainstorm on items to improve the area. This is the United States of American and there is so much seed money and investments that can be tapped in locally and even Internationally to make these pie in the sky dreams come true only if you can get the right people together. Florence has so much untapped potential!
Agreed... I dont know if eastern Florence County is lagging because of infrastructure..which is seems to be lacking for sure.. Without that you cant have much development especially residential which is also spotty with the exception of the intersection with hwy 76 and 327. I know school zones often plays a role.. but I am not sure how good/bad that zone is.
On a related note, in light of the fact that there is no direct rail between Florence and Myrtle Beach.. I would continue to encourage Florence to explore building a unified transit center downtown to serve both Greyhound/SES and Amtrak.. Florence is uniquely position to be a transfer point for one to go from Amtrak to some form of motor coach service to Myrtle Beach.. I did a quick look and (today) its anywhere from $14 -$22 one way and an 1hr 20 ride from Florence to Myrtle Beach on Greyhound/SES. Amtrak has motor coach service in some cities where you buy one ticket but you may complete a portion of your trip via bus to connect with popular destinations that do not have direct rail access. That motor coach service could be run by PDRTA via a charter coach that could be a "Mega Bus style" coach.. if the connection time between Amtrak and the existing Greyhound/SES service has too much of a wait time between connections. It may have no direct benefit to Florence per se but certainly from a Regional perspective improve connectivity to Myrtle Beach from other places.
The Hardees that is relocating from the Florence Mall - according to the documents on the construction bid site, says it will be (can't remember the address at the moment) but when I googled the address, it was on Palmetto near where store with Dunkin is at (Old Marion Hwy). I personally find this strange because the Hardees at the gas station down the road from there closed recently.
Also read that the Tilt Studios coming to Magnolia Mall will only be "back filling" the old JCPenney - which possible means that will maybe open a new corridor with a few more stores?
The Hardees that is relocating from the Florence Mall - according to the documents on the construction bid site, says it will be (can't remember the address at the moment) but when I googled the address, it was on Palmetto near where store with Dunkin is at (Old Marion Hwy). I personally find this strange because the Hardees at the gas station down the road from there closed recently.
Also read that the Tilt Studios coming to Magnolia Mall will only be "back filling" the old JCPenney - which possible means that will maybe open a new corridor with a few more stores?
That would be cool especially if there are no vacancies in the rest of the mall. I havent been in there in a long time so I have no clue if there are.. I have always been impressed how Magnolia Mall has bounced back.. It went through a period in the 90s where it could have gone either way.. Glad it rebounded....
Incidentally.. I am up in Maryland now and just saw a news story about a Florence Business.... Soule Cafe and how the owner bought a food truck prior to the pandemic and it likely saved his business during the shut down.. He is doing well now and may even expand. The story came from their sister Fox Station in Myrtle Beach (its Fox 45 here in MD) but I was just surprised that they would pick a story from Florence to share up here in Maryland... but it was good to see nonetheless...
They've been clearing out land the past few weeks behind the McDonalds & BP at 327/95.
This past week, they cleared a lot more, and the clearing is several acres, and even clearing all land up to I95.
This may be some new development hoping to get the Buc-ees traffic, not sure, but it is quite a lot of land being cleared there.
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