Fort Mill council hears plan to seek South Carolina cultural-district designation for downtown

Debbie Whitsett, owner of Olive's Mud Puddle and president of the Catawba River Art Guild, and Melanie Cooper, executive director of the Arts Council of York County, told the Town Council on the cultural-district application process and benefits for Downtown Fort Mill.

Whitsett said the application “requires very little from the town but brings great benefits to our area,” and described how a designated cultural district can attract artists, events and grant opportunities. Cooper said the designation creates access to marketing and grant funding and is renewable every five years.

The presenters outlined the typical steps: form a local steering committee approved by the South Carolina Arts Commission, compile an inventory and mapping of cultural resources, hold a public workshop with the Arts Commission, and have the town adopt a resolution confirming municipal support. Cooper said the commission assesses whether the proposed district is a “walkable” area and noted that as downtown grows a town can seek multiple, smaller cultural districts rather than a single sprawling district.

Council members described the timing as complementary to Fort Mill’s concurrent downtown master plan and broader 20-year planning work. Councilmember Alyssa asked whether multiple district applications (for example, Kingsley and downtown) would require separate reports; Cooper replied that “you have to do two separate reports, one for each of the districts.”

Presenters and council members cited previous examples and impact figures from neighboring programs. Whitsett and Cooper said Rock Hill’s cultural-district reporting showed increases in visitor counts and economic activity between 2017 and 2023; Whitsett quoted aggregate figures from those reports during her presentation. Cooper offered the Arts Council’s assistance compiling inventories and said the council’s staff liaison would be responsible for collecting required metrics for any application.

Council members asked about town cost and staff time. Whitsett and Cooper said the principal commitment would be volunteer time on the steering committee and periodic reporting; Cooper said the Arts Council often helps with much of the legwork. The presenters and council discussed possible programming—murals, festivals, concerts, public art experiences and youth art activities—as eligible activities within a cultural district.

Council did not vote on an application at the meeting. The mayor asked staff to find a template resolution and prepare the materials needed for a future council action; council members expressed support for moving forward. Council indicated they would return a formal resolution for consideration at a later meeting once staff and the proposed steering committee had prepared the application materials.

The presentation also included an offer from the Arts Council of York County to host and maintain an inventory of cultural assets online for Fort Mill. Cooper said that the district designation is “renewable every five years” and that council could request expansions or further mapping when renewing the designation.

The cultural-district discussion followed public comment earlier in the meeting and was placed on the agenda as a presentation; no ordinance or binding commitment was adopted at this session.