At the September meeting of the Dillon City Council, Mayor Todd Davis laid out his plan to take the first steps to revitalize Main Street.
Many in the community agree that it’s high time that action be taken to revitalize all of our Main Streets in all three municipalities, and it appeared that Dillon was going to be the leader in doing something that many citizens have been waiting for for quite some time.
Then came Hurricane Matthew, which set the plans for Main Street back even though Mayor Davis said at the November meeting, the setback is only temporary.
Except for the hurricane, which was indeed a setback for not only Main Street, but the entire county, the time is ideal.  With the inland port coming and expected to be completed by the end of next year, now is the time to ready ourselves for the influx of people, dollars, and economic development that it will bring.
Our downtown must be ready as it is the focal point of our community and the hearrt of the community.
Revitalizing our Main Streets, not only in Dillon, but in all three municipalities, will give entrepreneurs a chance to start and grow businesses. It will help current business owners attract more customers. It will provide jobs for our citizens. It will give the citizens more opportunities to shop locally. It will benefit everyone and create a new excitement and civic pride that will hopefully spread throughout the communities.
Hurricane Matthew was definitely a setback to Dillon’s kickoff of this program, but let’s hope that setback is really only a temporary one.
Let’s not miss this opportunity to make our Main Street vital as it once was years ago. The time has arrived. The time is now.