Current News Releases
Sept. 23, 2007
Time for city to seize potential of Innovista plan
Editorial reprinted with permission from The State
Columbia has seen in recent years what can be done to make gems out of underutilized areas. See the Vista, the revival of the riverfront and how USC’s research buildings already are transforming Assembly Street. Now, the city has begun to consider a project that aims to tie these successes together: Innovista.
A master plan was approved earlier this month by the Columbia Planning Commission and presented to the Columbia Design/Development Review Commission. Several other steps lie ahead, and they offer the entire community chances to consider how Innovista would change Columbia.
The project has grown beyond USC’s need for a research campus. The driving forces behind it have been the university and the Guignard family, which owns considerable riverfront land; now an array of local leaders called the Waterfront Steering Committee is pushing Innovista ahead. It has brought in Sasaki and Associates, an internationally renowned design and urban planning firm.
The result is a plan to revitalize Columbia from the main campus down to the Congaree River. The main artery would be a Greene Street reborn as a tree-lined, pedestrian- and bike-friendly boulevard connecting the Horseshoe with the Colonial Center and a new riverfront park. It’s ambitious, and offers a lot to like:
- Land belonging to the Guignards would become an urban park on the waterfront, offering a recreation resource next to the new USC baseball park.
- A sector of downtown that seems stagnant would get a great chance to grow, with new retail and residential opportunities.
- It would open streets in the area to pedestrians and bicycles.
- Columbia would get the chance to become particularly attractive to the creative class of entrepreneurs we hope will fuel the state’s 21st-century economy.
While the master plan has been prepared, that does not end the discussion. The Waterfront Steering Committee is presenting the plan repeatedly to build public awareness. It will be debated throughout the community, including before Columbia City Council, before it can begin to go into place. Among the questions the community will face: Can the real estate and retail markets rise to meet this growth? What would happen to nearby property values, and the mix of residential property available? Are we ready to see so much more street work, something many Columbians are weary of? Since more than half the land belongs to private owners besides the Guignards and USC, how will those owners be affected by a change in zoning to multi-use?
Most importantly, how will this community pay for the public part of the project? There’s already been some consideration of re-using the Vista TIF, but that’s the source of conflict already. The current dispute would have to be worked out before any new use could be considered, and other parties such as Richland County rightly mistrust the city’s shoddy bookkeeping.
It’s time to talk about all these issues. But keep in mind the bigger picture: Innovista offers a splendid plan, one that could allow Columbia to build something truly distinctive at the city’s core.
This is an opportunity to be seized.
