WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — West Columbia's Beautification Foundation is working to liven up the greenery along Highway 1.
Driving down this main corridor through West Columbia, it's easy to see beautiful parts of the city and the not so beautiful parts.
Donation-based group, the West Columbia Beautification Foundation is looking to turn the ugly areas into blooming life.
"We think that a lot of times it just, it looks more unique like some of the big cities that have beautiful planters and things like that," said Kathy Whetzel, chairwoman of the West Columbia Beautification Foundation.
They've been working at planning a large project along Highway 1 from 16th to 17th Streets, getting quotes from landscapers, coordinating with businesses and SCDOT for the last six months, but have found pricing to be too high for their budget.
"The problem too is with businesses there, whether they're willing to give up some of their space, their parking places perhaps. It's a lot of just things that go into doing a project of this nature," Whetzel said.
Kathy explains in their meeting last Thursday, they decided to regroup and start with a new slate, breaking it up into smaller projects between Manning Drive and 12th Street.
"We're going to try to all go out and see the areas that we think could be done without cutting concrete or asphalt or things of that nature, so everybody's going to put their ideas in a hat and then we're going to see where we can start and of course it's little projects at a time because we basically work off of donations," Whetzel said.
If you'd like to get involved financially, or contribute ideas, you can show up to their next meeting on November 3, 2022.
The group meets the first Thursday of every month at the New Brookland room in city hall.
The foundation recently wrapped up some tree planting at East Point Academy and on the embankment coming into the triangle city.