LAKE CITY, SC – After decades of planning, Lake City is finally getting their lake, and it’s taking the place of a huge eyesore in the area.
On the drive in to Lake City, you now see mounds of dirt where construction workers are working to level off what used to be an old landfill.
For city leaders like Gregg Moore, the landfill is not what people should see when they visit the city.
“Everybody’s first and last impression of Lake City that is traveling south or north leaving Lake City is basically this piece of property,” said Moore.
He says that’s one of the reasons he’s excited they chose this particular piece of land for the lake.
Jason Springs with the Florence County Council says they’ve worked diligently with the Department of Health and Environmental Control to work to get the land ready, and now they are finally able to start working.
“It’s a unique project where we are taking an existing landfill and it is now being repurposed and beautified into a lake project. In essence, we’re taking a piece of coal and turning it into a diamond for the City of Lake City,” said Springs.
Springs has been one of the driving forces behind the project because he says it’s something the community has been asking for for years.
“From as long as I can remember, everyone in Lake City has dreamed about their lake coming to Lake City. As a child, they sold t-shirts that said coming soon to a town near you, a lake,” said.
For now, the eight acre lake is dirt and gravel, but crews are hoping to have the recreational lake ready by spring.
For business owners like Marshall Altman, the new lake can’t come soon enough.
“It’s just excitement. It creates excitement, and it creates people coming in to town,” said Altman.
Altman is the owner of Marshall’s Marine, a boating retailer about two miles down the street from the construction site of the new lake.
He says the new lake is sure to bring business all around Lake City and he hopes the new lake will put the city on the map.
A large majority of the funding for the new lake comes from a grant with the Bruce and Lee Foundation of Florence.
Originally, the land was owned by Lake City, but they donated the land to Florence County to build the lake.
The lake will be owned and maintained by Florence County.
