The challenges in revitalizing Greenville’s downtown have a lot to teach businesspeople about overcoming their own setbacks
Close to 150 Greenville Chamber members packed into the Embassy Suites on April 24 to hear Greenville Mayor Knox White and Complete Public Relations President John Boyanoski talk about their book, “Reimagining Greenville: Building the Best Downtown in America,” as the backdrop for a discussion on overcoming challenges. The book chronicles the triumphs of downtown Greenville, with specific attention to the many challenges the revitalization faced and how city officials tackled them. While the book takes an overarching look at downtown’s history, it mainly focuses on the eight years encompassing the first two terms of White’s tenure as mayor, when Boyanoski worked as a City Hall and business reporter for the Greenville News and later Greenville Journal.
How does the story of downtown Greenville relate to the business world? Consider these leadership takeaways.
Don’t settle
White noted the numerous times Greenville leaders were faced with a choice that would change Greenville for the better, but not the best. One of them was the potential restoration of the Poinsett Hotel in the mid-1990s. The city was offered a deal where the hotel would reopen as a motel on two floors and the rest would become office space. White said the offer was tempting because it would keep the hotel from being boarded up, but in the end it wasn’t the optimal reuse for the property.
White said it was key to the future of downtown to wait for the developer, Steve Dopp, who would eventually restore and revitalize the hotel to its original grandeur. Greenville leaders saw that the hotel needed to be more than just a building. It became a sign that they were committed to making Main Street great by embracing its past.
Always follow the plan
Hang around Boyanoski and White long enough, and they will mention the LDR (land development regulations) plan that really shaped the future of downtown. This plan, which was first commissioned in the 1970s and updated in the 1990s, served as the blueprint for downtown today. However, the key to the plan’s success was following it. Many cities (and businesses) will create plans, but go for cheap fixes that don’t follow the plan.
An example White shared was One Main Place. This was a city-owned building in the heart of downtown that was underused for almost two decades. The city promised it would be used for retail, but the opportunity arose for a large nightclub to go there. After outcry from neighbors and other businesses, the city backed off the nightclub, but was left with a vacant building. However, two years later, the site became the home of Mast General Store.
The worst moments can lead to greater success
Many people thought Greenville was doomed when the Atlanta Braves AA affiliate announced it was leaving town. White painted a crestfallen picture as he trudged back to his office after the announcement the team was leaving, but there was a silver lining. His phone was ringing and it was the general manager of another team begging White not to make a decision on the future of baseball that day. That showed that Greenville could be a great “baseball town,” and led to what is now Fluor Field coming downtown.
Find your waterfall
“Find your own waterfall” sounds like something out of a bad self-help book, but there is a reason why it was a fulcrum of the speech. Greenville’s downtown obviously has a waterfall, but for two generations most local people didn’t know it existed because it was hidden beneath a four-lane bridge. And the ones who knew about it often didn’t see the value. One City Council member even suggested blowing up the falls in order to save the driving bridge.
It took a while, but people realized the waterfall is what made Greenville unique. Boyanoski gave an example of many other communities that come up with tag lines of “friendly people, great parks, great schools” as their selling point without realizing that almost every community can say that to some extent. The key is to find your waterfall.
