BETHUNE, S.C. — The town of Bethune is preparing to take an empty grass field located on Main Street and transform it into a park, thanks to a $10,000 donation from Sandhills Telephone Cooperative.
The park will be named McLaurin Park after the late John McLaurin, former CEO of Sandhill Telephone Cooperative and former Bethune resident.
"This will be the first part of our big revitalization effort," Bethune Mayor Susan Holley said, "We're planning to build an amphitheater so that we can have performances, which will bring more people down on the main street and bring an attraction for new businesses to open."
Holley believes this park will hopefully bring more people exploring the downtown area.
"We feel like this is in the heart of the main street, our historic district, you just need a nice place to congregate that gives people safety and a place where they can just commune and I think it's really important for the businesses and also it attracts new business owners to the area because you are improving the value of the overall properties."
Construction has not started yet on the park but there is a plan for what will be sitting in McLaurin Park.
"The park will be encased with a nice fencing, we'll have pavers, we hope to have a couple of water features, and historical markers, to bring some light to the history of the town."
There is no official date on when the park will be open to the public.