Tag Archive

Big Idea: Bring Back Brawley Street

By Steve Shanafelt

Several months ago, I heard a rumor that the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine was looking at the old Spartan Mills site as a possible location for their proposed Spartanburg Campus. At the time, I didn’t realize exactly what that meant, at least beyond a simple understanding that a new college campus was likely... »

Video: Spartanburg City Council, Monday, March 8, 2010

By Steve Shanafelt

Spartanburg City Council heard from several nonprofit groups that have applied for Community Development Block Grants and HOME funds. The groups have requested a combined $130,944 in CDBG funds and $75,000 in HOME Funding. The public hearing was purely for informational purposes, and council took no action on the requests. Council also voted unanimously... »

Sparkle City Headlines: City Council Weighs Bookstore-Cafe Grant

By Steve Shanafelt

Back in January, HubCulture (the parent organization of the Hub City Writers Project and the HUB-BUB) announced it would be opening a new downtown bookstore in the ground floor of the Masonic Temple on Morgan Square. Since that initial announcement, progress on the site has clipped along, and the current plan now includes an... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Former Bi-Lo To Become New Piedmont Community Actions Project

By Steve Shanafelt

If there’s one thing Spartanburg has more than enough of, it’s large, empty storefronts. Few things make a city look as desperate and run-down as a wealth of hollowed-out shells where businesses once lived. So, it’s hard to see the recent announcement that local non-profit Piedmont Community Actions Inc. has acquired the former Bi-Lo... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Kimbrell’s Furniture to re-open as downtown nightclub

By Steve Shanafelt

According to a story in the Feb. 17th edition of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, a new nightclub called Rome will soon be coming to downtown Spartanburg. Local businessman Josey Wells recently signed a lease on the 28,000-square-foot building, which formerly housed Kimbrell’s Furniture. According to journalist Trevor Anderson, plans for the “upscale” club include “extravagant... »

Reader Soapbox: Hub City Co-op Ownership Meeting

By Reader Soapbox

Soapbox contributor: Lydia Anthony To write your own Reader Soapbox, visit our Reader Soapbox submission page. Last night was the first ownership meeting of the Hub-City Co-op, and as a proud member of the vanguard of co-op owners, I can hardly wait to tell you all about it. But before I launch into the details of the meeting, you... »

Spartanburg’s Almost-Certain Real Estate Explosion

By Steve Shanafelt

Yesterday, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal ran a story detailing the long-rumored plans of the addition of yet another college campus in downtown Spartanburg. The Blacksburg, Va.-based Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine is moving forward with a plan to bring a new four-year post-graduate medical school to the city, possibly as soon as fall... »

Sparkle City Headlines: ‘Grain District’ Coming Soon?

By Christopher George

If you want to cite an example of Spartanburg’s progress in the last few years, particularly in the area of downtown renewal, the western part of downtown is perhaps the best example you’ll find. Now a group of residents and business owners from that area have a new idea, naming the newly bustling... »

Hub City Writers Project Announces Downtown Bookstore Plans

By Steve Shanafelt

If you’re one of those people who feels like the downtown experience is incomplete without a bookstore, I have some good news for you. Yesterday, the Hub City Writers Project announced plans to open a new, non-profit bookstore in the long-vacant street-level of the historic Masonic Temple building. “This landmark bookstore will be on... »

Sparkle City Headlines: RJ Rockers Tap Room Opens Tomorrow

By Steve Shanafelt

If you’re one of the many, many people who have been desperately waiting for the new downtown RJ Rockers Tap Room to open, try not to explode when you read the following sentence: It opens to the public tomorrow. Gary Glancy over at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal has the story … After weeks of waiting, the Tap... »

Video-O-Rama: Belenchia, The George, Nature Walk, Annoying Skater and Mozart

By Steve Shanafelt

Let’s start this week’s video roundup by getting all political. Here’s Spartanburg City Council candidate for District 4, Thomas Belenchia, talking to the Piedmont Republican Club at their recent forum at the Beacon. It’s not a huge leap to go from the business of politics, to the business of development. And one of the biggest... »

GLBT Friendly Businesses In Spartanburg: Coming Out Party!

By Steve Shanafelt

It was recently brought to my attention that there’s no central listing for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) businesses in Spartanburg. Given the heavy prejudice against the GLBT (or LGBT if you prefer) community in the region, perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that local businesses have been a little reluctant to make... »

Big Idea: What’s Missing From Spartanburg?

By Steve Shanafelt

To look at the flood of comments and ideas generated by asking a simple question about what should replace Justin’s Steakhouse in downtown Spartanburg, it’s hard not to draw the conclusion that there’s a lot of people who hunger for more than a just a new downtown restaurant. That discussion made me start thinking... »

What Would You Like To See Replace Justin’s Steakhouse?

By Steve Shanafelt

Roland Zimmer, the owner of the building that housed the now-closed Justin’s Steakhouse in downtown Spartanburg, recently posted on the GoUpstate forums asking for ideas about the kind of restaurant people would like to see take over the space. What could be cooler than asking for that kind of feedback? And who better to ask... »

Sparkle City Headlines: Justin’s Closes, Congressional Forum Gets Spicy, And City Council Gets Earful On Annexation

By Steve Shanafelt

Today is a historic day for the Spartanburg media. So historic, in fact, that you might want to go out and buy a copy of today’s newspaper to remember it by. It’s not because there’s some epoch-defining news. It’s because today, for the first time in months, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal’s local coverage is hitting... »