Olde Towne Marion

     As a volunteer organization established to enhance Marion's business environment while preserving the history and beauty of the downtown historic core of the city, Olde Towne Marion is the familiar name given to the Historic Marion Revitalization Association. Olde Towne Marion strives to stimulate economic development within the context of historical preservation. 

     In 1992, local citizens, merchants and city officials sought guidance from the South Carolina Downtown Development Association and Marion was accepted into the Main Street Program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and administered through the National Main Street Center. Building on that foundation, Historic Marion Revitalization has moved forward.

     In 2011 Olde Towne Marion was chosen as the name by which the Historic Marion Revitalization Association would continue with its work of preserving the City of Marion's historic business district. HMRA is committed to sponsoring programs and activities which foster and ensure historic preservation, build community cohesiveness and combat community deterioration. 

     Simply put, the mission of Olde Towne Marion is to preserve our historic essence through preservation, while stimulating and promoting the economic vitality of the Historic Downtown District of Marion, South Carolina.

    Olde Towne Marion, HMRA, works actively and closely with the City of Marion and the Marion Camber of Commerce to see that the master plan, first developed in 2005 and revisited in early 2010, continues to move forward in the downtown area. This plan is the result of the Charrette completed in the Fall of 2005. As a continuing of the development of that plan, the city completed in 2011 the S.C. Department of Transportation grant-funded Streetscape that updated a six-long block section of downtown. 

     Olde Towne Marion frequently awards matching grants of up to $2,000 for work done on commercial facades within the Historic Business District. We have awarded grants totaling $7,400 this year. Any business or property owner interested in applying for a grant should contact our office for more information.

     One of our main goals is to obtain grant monies for the Historic District of downtown Marion. After completing the Streetscape to enhance the look and feel of Main Street, which included painted brickwork at corner crossings on downtown Main Street and landscaping between Bobby Gerald Parkway and Dozier Streets, our next step is the continued beautification of our city.

     We will also be working to encourage newcomers, including tourists, families and retirees, to visit and to relocate to Marion. Presenting a downtown that is viable and pleasing to the eye is part of that plan.

     Another of our more ambitious goals is to continually seek and bring new businesses into the downtown, filling empty properties, and to continually help existing businesses on Main Street in Historic Downtown Marion to grow and reach their full potential. This summer, we successfully started out Farmers Market on the site of the old Coca-Cola Bottling Plant on Bobby Gerald Parkway.
We fully understand that empty storefronts do not encourage tourists to stop and spend their money and those empty buildings keep Marion residents from patronizing our other vital local businesses.

     It is our goal to recruit and retain viable businesses.