Other than that vast hole in the ground, 2025 saw Clinton bounce back from the Summer of 2024’s devastating fire. Now, as we enter the new year, 2 questions remain: What caused it? and What are we going to do about it? So far, there has been no official explanation about why four buildings in the middle of our city were destroyed or damaged by the inferno that could not be controlled from the ground. An insurance investigation happened - apparently - but the result of that was for the insurance companies’ eyes only. A very unsatifying outcome for anyone - everyone? - who asks the simple question, Why?
Aside from that, the other remaining question is when is the City going to offer a vision about where the Musgrove Street Business District goes from here. Personally, we would like to see the “vast hole” become some kind of amphitheater or performance-park. Some parking is nearby or easily-accessible with stairs; some ground-level parking exists in the public-private lot next to the “vast hole” so people should be able to get to it, with some safety modifications. This kind of performance and/or gathering space would preserve the investment that House of Pizza has made in its exhaust fans, protruding from the side of the restaurant. Remember, the NEW House of Pizza used to be Presbyterian College’s Freshen’s restaurant and, before that, the PC Bookstore.
The House of Pizza showed a great deal of faith in the City of Clinton and its customers in staying true to its vision of remaining in Uptown Clinton.
Taking action to reward that faith is the least (literally) the City of Clinton can do for the restaurant.
Visioning sessions for what the “vast hole” could become have not taken place. There was some kind of “settlement” or purchase of properties brought about by the Clinton Economic Development Corporation, but those never have been fully explained. The “vast hole” could be the site of a potential Uptown Clinton boutique hotel -- Newberry has one, but it’s across from a main tourism draw, the Newberry Opera House; one has to wonder why someone would “book a stay” in the middle of Clinton - and we have the perfect contractor for it working just 6 miles away on the never-seems-to-end Laurens County Historic Courthouse renovation in the middle of downtown Laurens.
2026 would be a great time to have a hotel in the middle of Clinton, because our city is in the center of battle sites of the American Revolution. And, this year is the 250th Anniverdsary of what was literally an Earth-shaking event, and a model for any nation that hopes to become a Democracy. Alas, we can’t build a hotel overnight, so that opportunity to capture some of the Historic Tourism that could be coming our way might be too late - we hope the other hotels around Clinton have made their preparations and are doing their marketing.
To get back to the title of this piece, businesses torn apart by the massive fire that swept through Clinton - or would have swept through Clinton if not for the firewall that PC had built when it renovated what used to be its bookstore - have basically survived or re-invented themselves. We still have Hoyt Hanvey Jewelers, and we have another small shop that moved into the place that Hanvey used as its location for a while. We have an Art Gallery business in Clinton, because store owners had the idea to move in together. We have the House of Pizza (thankfully). The eye doctor moved to a place near the hospital; unfortunately, it looks like the Kingdom Builders’ museum and events venue is a loss for the city. It looks like the City is going to invest in a second aerial fire truck, which is a good thing because it was our aerial truck and, most especially, the aerial trucks from surrounding departments that eventually “got on top of” the August, 2024, fire bringing it under control.
We have lessons that we should have learned from the fire - most particularly, is our water pressure in the Uptown business district sufficient for what we might need in case this happens again? We have people living in places above some of these businesses, and the possibility of more coming into a renovated Industrial Supply building just a couple blocks away. It should be part of our “bouncing back” process - and the end of one year and the start of another is a good time to reflect on this - to make sure that everyone to the best of our ability is safe within our city.
