Spartanburg City News

One of our city's most popular events is back again at Barnet Park, as Spartanburg gears up for the 2014 International Festival on Saturday, October 4 from . Japan is this year's honored country, and to celebrate we've got some great additions to this year's festival, including traditional taiko drumming, bon dancing, Japanese tea ceremony demostrations, and much more. Of course, it wouldn't be th...

If you've been following our series on the Economic Power of Downtown Spartanburg so far, you might recall that our very first podcast in the series covered jobs, specifically the huge number of people who work in or near Downtown and what those jobs mean for our community. Today, we're going to examine how Spartanburg got a big chunk of those jobs. Aside from fundamentally changing the skyline of...

This Saturday, September 20 in Downtown Spartanburg promises to be one for the books with two fantastic events, Downtown Bites and Live on the Green, featuring Bruce Hornsby, scheduled to dovetail nicely together. First, sample food from 10 local restaurants and hear live music from five local bands at Downtown Bites, satarting at 12 p.m. on Morgan Square. After you've eaten your way around the sq...

As you may have read in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal this past Sunday, Oakview Apartments has one of the highest concentrations of poverty and crime in our city. Inside the cinderblock walls of the property's 105 units, 75 percent of residents earn less than $5,000 per year and live in conditions one resident described as "one step up from being homeless." Tearing down this barracks-style low in...

We can always count on our friends at the Chapman Cultural Center to come up with innovative ways to highlight all that Spartanburg's creative community has to offer, and a new event to be held in Downtown Spartanburg on September 6 (on Liberty St. between Chapman and "The George") offers a new way to do just that. #1Spark! is a festival of ideas, bringing together two of the most important creati...

So far in our series on the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg, we've talked about a lot of the great things about our city's core that otherwise might fly a little under the radar at times. From the nine-figure investment that's transformed one block, to the streescaping plan that promises to help transform the way we get around, to the staggering number of people who work within one mile of...

In part one of our conversation with Spartanburg Medical Center President Phil Feisal, we talked about the hospital recently being named the number one hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report, earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas. Aside from the much-deserved notoriety the ranking brings to Spartanburg Regional, the report underscores how crucial Spartanburg Reg...

It's been an incredibly important part of our community for over 90 years, and recently Spartanburg Medical Center was named the number one hospital in South Carolina by U.S. News & World Report, earning high performance rankings in nine specialty areas: cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology and GI surgery; geriatrics; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; or...

City of Spartanburg citizens have a new, free, easy-to-use digital product they can use to report issues and ask for help. HeySpartanburg! is now available via the City’s website (click here) or through the iTunes and Android stores for your mobile devices. The new mobile app will allow bring city services to the fingertips of citizens, allowing them to request services, such as a large greenwaste...

So far on in our series exploring the economic power of Downtown Spartanburg, we've talked about the economic importance of the area around Morgan Square, and spent some time discussing the large investments that have transformed one section of our city's downtown. But what about the walk between those sections of Downtown? Isn't there something the City can do to make that experience simpler and...

It's tough to miss the three anchor developments in Downtown Spartanburg's northernmost reaches. The Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, the Chapman Cultural Center, and USC-Upstate's George Dean Johnson Jr. College of Business and Economics might not have all been built at the same time, but combined, these crucial pieces of Downtown Spartanburg's renewal represent an enormous investment. How eno...

Do you work in or near Downtown Spartanburg? If you do, you're definitely not alone. It might not make headlines the way our county's industrial titans (justifiably) do when they announce an expansion, but thousands of people spend their workdays in and around Downtown Spartanburg. How many? Check out the infographic below to get a little perspective. Pretty impressive, right? And it's not just th...

Barnet Park is the perfect setting for Spartanburg's Independence Day celebration, Red, White & Boom! On the stage at the Zimmerli Amphitheater starting at 6 p.m., visitors can enjoy patriotic music by the Spartanburg Community Band starting, and then at 8 p.m., it's time for a set from one of the best up-and-coming guitarists in country music, as Nashville recording artist, Lindsay Ell takes the...

At their meeting on Monday, City Council gave approval to a plan to daylight Butterfly Branch, a spring-fed stream that has been piped underground through the neighborhood for decades. An important part of the Northside Initiative, plans call for the creek to run through the neighborhood from VCOM to the proposed site of the new TK Gregg Center, currently the location for Oakview Apartments. Ninet...

In recognition of Father’s Day, Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra will present a free concert-in-the-park Saturday, June 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Zimmerli Amphitheatre in Barnet Park in downtown Spartanburg. It will feature one of the hottest and most-promising vocalists currently making international headlines in both classical and pop music — Kaitlyn Lusk, a 25-year-old soprano. This pops concer...

It's been called the "Stone Bill" owing to its association with the well-known San Diego craft beer maker, but for craft breweries throughout South Carolina, a bill on its way to Governor Nikki Haley's desk could transform their industry. Under the new law, breweries that bottle and sell beer offsite will now be allowed to sell unlimited quantities on site so long as it is in conjunction with rest...

The growing season is well underway here in Spartanburg, and that means it's time for the Hub City Farmers' Market to kick off it's 2014 season at the Magnolia Street Train Depot on May 17 at 8 a.m. (click here for directions). Now entering its ninth year, the market routinely draws hundreds of people out to the old train depot looking to buy everything from local vegetables like kale, cabbage, an...

At their most recent meeting, Spartanburg City Council gave unanimous approval to a measure paving the way for a new $7 million mixed-use development behind the Downtown Marriott. The hotel's owners, Jimmy Gibbs and Andy Cajka, have plans for a new, complimentary project on the adjacent property, though no specifics are yet being disclosed. Under the approved agreement, the City will sell the lot...

At a workshop held after their most recent meeting, City Council voiced support for demolishing the Sunshine Inn, a blighted motel across from Wofford College, and a crucial piece of the Northside Initiative. On the heels of recent news of the Northside Development Corporation's nearly finalized purchase of the property for around $600,000, staff recommended to Council that the City allocate $200,...

Despite what it may feel like today, spring is here. After the coldest few months in recent memory, winter's brown is yelding, finally, to a verdant new season. Sounds like the perfect time for a barbecue festival, and as it happens, Downtown Spartanburg's very own Hub City Hog Fest is back for its second year this weekend. Kicking off Friday at 10 a.m., and running through Saturday at 10 p.m., th...

Think of it as craft beer with a side of entrepreneurship...or maybe the other way around. Either way, one of the coolest ways for Spartanburg's budding entrepreneurs to take that idea they've been kicking around and grow it into something special is the bi-monthly "Grain Ideas" session at Grower Haus (113 N Church St.). Today on the podcast, we sit down with Growler Haus owner Craig Kinley to get...

In case you've missed it, earlier this week we announced the semifinalists for this year's Main Street Challenge. In all, 15 businesses representing 12 different business concepts move on to the next round, 10 of those businesses representing some kind of restaurant or other food and beverage concept. Those semifinalists will now have to submit formal business plans and other information to suppor...

Let's say you've got an idea for the next "Great American Novel," an idea so great that it's practically begging to leap from your imagination to the page. Where do you start? Even if you've got writing chops to put the story down in black and white, what then? How do you go about getting an agent who can nail down the book contract your masterpiece deserves? Today on the podcast, we talk with Hub...

It's perhaps one of the most enduring images of childhood. Mention kite flying to just about any adult and you'll see a nostalgic gleam in the eyes as images straight out of Norman Rockwell painting fill the imagination. For the briefest of moments, we're all just kids again, hoping for a nice breeze. Wouldn't it be great to spend a sunny afternoon just flying a kite again? Thanks to the Chapman C...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a great business idea into a successful startup? Designed as a way to bring creative people together to turn innovative concepts into startups over the course of a grueling 54 hours, Startup Weekends have been held in more than 400 cities in over 100 countries worldwide, and on February 21–23, Spartanburg will get its chance to join in on the fun with i...