FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – Recently, the City of Florence made another step towards throwing its hat into the sports tourism arena. City officials are inching forward towards building both a new basketball and soccer complex.
“Many people think of Florence as a pass through, but we want to try and make it a destination. It has been a long time coming,” said Chuck Pope, Public Works Director.
Right now, officials are in the planning process of constructing a brand new 80 acre soccer complex which will sit just off of I-95 on Highway 76. They also plan to build a three court basketball center which will be across from the Barnes Street Activity Center in downtown.
$7 million will go towards constructing the new soccer complex with $6 million, along with land coming from the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation.
“One [goal] is economic development. We would like to draw some tournaments with both some basketball, volleyball, as well as soccer tournaments to the area,” Pope stated.
With the number of hotels and restaurants, the city looks to capitalize.
“This can be a destination. I think it is moving in that direction,” mentioned Pope.
Construction on both the soccer complex and basketball center will start in the next couple of months.
