City of Columbia and AARP Partnership Project
June 5, 2018
The City of Columbia Planning and Development Services in partnership with an AARP Community Challenge grant will provide 13 more tables and 36 additional chairs to expand the available seating on Main Street. The additional tables and chairs will be located on the 1300 block of Main Street in front of the Meridian building. Main Street has a highly active pedestrian population and also is a popular area to host events.
“The City of Columbia is the first South Carolina municipality that has been accepted into AARP and the World Health Organization(WHO) Age-Friendly City program,” said Teresa Arnold, AARP SC state director. “When approved for full membership, Columbia will join many towns and cities across the country working to make livable communities thrive.”
This partnership project is an expansion of the pilot project implemented by What’s Next Midland’s last year, which provided 8 café tables and 16 chairs to be provided specifically for the Soda City Market on Saturdays and for First Thursdays on Main Street. The pilot project has been hugely successful, and now it’s time to expand.The partnership project will improve Columbia’s built environment to benefit all ages and ability levels as well as drive community engagement and interaction across diverse community residents. Providing more seating on Main Street will remove the barriers for citizens standing for a long period of time, have a lunch outside, enjoy the nice weather and much more. These tables and chairs will be available for the public to use. While this project is in a very specific geographic location, it is certainly intended to make Main Street more accessible to people of all ages.
“We’re thankful for amazing partners like AARP for investing in Columbia’s efforts to become a more inclusive and thoughtful city,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. “We’ve seen the great response from our residents when we do simple things like putting out more tables and chairs – it’s placemaking at its best, and we’re excited to have even more opportunities for people to gather and fellowship.”
The City of Columbia and AARP partnership project is a reflection of the City Council’s Vision Statement focus areas and goals.
Focus Area #2: Planning Together
Focus Area #4: Empowering Our Residents
Goal #3: Foster a healthy quality of life focusing on safety, culture and recreation.
Goal #4: Collaborate and partner with entities within the Midlands region to become the state’s prime destination for residents, visitors and businesses.
The tables and chairs will reflect the current days and times of Soda City market for Saturdays, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and First Thursdays, 5 p.m.- 9 p.m. In addition, the tables and chairs will be available on weekdays from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. City’s Planning and Development staff will monitor and evaluate the use of the furnishings to be sure they are being used appropriately, and to adjust according to these parameters as well as to seasonal comfort. City’s Planning and Development staff has already approached the adjacent business owners and they are all in support of the project.
To learn more about the partnership project, please contact the City’s Planning and Development Services at 803-545-3222.
