The Greeneway is a North Augusta icon. The 12.5 mile trail has attracted visitors far and wide.
Now, the North Augusta 2000 Foundation wants to put it to work by extending it by a little less than a mile.
The foundation has a new R4 Initiative - standing for retail and restaurant recruit and retention - geared toward the downtown area. Brett Brannon heads the committee, which is split into four subcommittees: Property development, led by Chuck Smith; downtown branding, led by Briton Williams; community support, led by Ken McDowell; and new business owners, led by Walker Posey.
"That group went out and recruited community members to serve on their committees," Brannon said. "Those committees are not made up of just North Augusta 2000 people. That's important, because we want to use those committees to drive this idea if the community embraces it. We want the community to know that if anyone has an interest in serving on any of those four committees, that they need to contact and let us know that. It's not just exclusive to North Augusta 2000," Brannon said.
He said that when all of the committees began putting their ideas together there was one thing missing from all of them - how do you brand the downtown area if there's nothing happening in it? The foundation needed a catalyst to drive focus and attention.
"The idea came out that we use an existing community resource that is probably far more popular than people in general realize, and connect it to the downtown," he said. "That would allow it to become the economic driving force for the downtown with density and foot traffic. We arrived at the conclusion that the Greeneway is the best way to create that."
Brannon said most people don't realize the Greeneway has been around for 20 years. It averages 20,000 users a month and 70 percent of that is on the weekend. Half of the people on the Greeneway aren't from North Augusta, and 30 percent are from Georgia.
"That becomes important, because when we're trying to revitalize that downtown we want to drive that density seven days a week," he said. "We feel like the Greeneway is a really important part of driving it on the weekend considering how much usage occurs those two days a week, and the fact that we have economic development already taking place next to the downtown through Medac.
"That will be five-day a week density, and those people won't really be there on the weekend," Brannon said.
Medac employees would benefit by having a clear connection to the downtown area.
Brannon said North Augusta 2000 has received positive feedback every step of the way. Council plans to revisit the subject at North Augusta Forward in May.
Some example paths have been shown, but none are close to being finalized. North Augusta 2000 has proposed a loop to downtown tying the Greeneway to Maude Edenfield Park.
Some plans can get the Greeneway all the way to First Baptist Church without entering any alleyways.
"We want a path for the Greeneway that is all inclusive to all of downtown," Brannon said. "That's why we're bringing it both ways to make a loop. It's a Greeneway project, not an alleyway project."
North Augusta 2000 is also looking to create a gateway destination point. By design, the Greeneway is accessible in various locations throughout the city. Brannon said what drives people's choices of where to enter is proximity to home and availability of parking. He cited Riverview Park as the most popular point, which means a lot of traffic driving straight through downtown on the way to the park.
The new gateway would be lit for use after dark. It would also have businesses with locations for people walking pets.
Scott Rodgers is the news editor at The North Augusta Star and has been with the paper since 2013. Follow him on Twitter @TheScottRodgers.
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