WINNSBORO – The Town of Winnsboro is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, April 25, to gather input from the community on how to plan for nature-based resilient stormwater improvements at Fortune Springs Park.
These improvements will address flooding and water quality issues and aim to restore the park amenities.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., at the old Armory, 300 Park Street in Winnsboro.
In February, the Town was awarded the South Carolina Office of Resilience (SCOR) grant of $1,859,744.90 for the Fortune Springs Stormwater Project.
SCOR had previously awarded the Town a grant of $440,825.00 for Fortune Springs Park. Combining the current and previous SCORE awards, the Town now has a total of $2,300,569.90 to apply toward the Fortune Springs Park project.
Taylor said the newly awarded funds will help to ensure that the intent of the project, of addressing the underlying drainage issues that undermined the original park design, can be more fully realized.
“This money is primarily geared towards drainage and things like that. We hope we can include curbs and gutters and some sidewalks, but we have to explore what we can do beyond just site work,” Taylor said.
“This money,” he said, “is not for building pretty things – like fountains and such – it’s for the substantive things like foundational work that makes something be able to stand the test of time. Drainage is not a safety issue,” Taylor said, “but if you don’t deal with drainage, your project is going to be washed away because water’s going to do what water’s going to do.
“This newly awarded grant from SCOR will help to further the goal of revitalizing Winnsboro, making it a better place for its citizens, and more attractive for those considering to make Winnsboro their home.
“This will have a long-lasting positive impact on the Town of Winnsboro,” Taylor said.
