RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Richland County has some money on hand and is going to use it to help give a bit of an upgrade to the outside of businesses in the area.
It’ll go to improve the storefronts so they’ll be nicer to look at when you drive by and more enticing for you to enter and shop.
That kind of facelift could soon be coming to several businesses in Richland County thanks to the commercial façade improvement project.
“I think more people will come by because everything look new and clean it’s good for the city it's good for the people and it's good for small businesses,” says the owner of El Gallo, Pedro Costa.
His business sits on Decker Boulevard, a business that sits within qualification for the program.
Richland County’s commercial façade improvement program will encourage businesses to upgrade the exterior appearance of the building, storefronts, and signage.
It’s a program they’ve done before and seen success and now they have expanded it to different sections of town.
That includes parts of Bush River Road, Decker Boulevard, Percival Road, Two Notch Road, and St. Andrews Road.
St. Andrews is where Sims Music is located and they say they’re ready to take part.
“I could see us doing it we put a lot into our appearance inside and outside, and we're very invested in our family business so I could see definitely we could find a use for the help because it’s very expensive to keep up with the store,” said general manager of Sims Music, Justin Sims.
He and Costa both have areas they want to fix in their business, and this might make upgrades that were tougher to afford more possible.
"Signage, awnings, we’ve wanted awnings for a while they are quite expensive so we’ve held off on it,” Sims added.
“The parking lot will be nice, painting, and it has a lot of holes there,” adds Costa.
The application process runs until Friday, April 28th.
The program will provide $14,999 per activity for exterior improvements, and Richland County covers 100 percent of the cost.