SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) – The city of Spartanburg is changing, a lot of the places that make up downtown are moving.
The location that the Spartanburg Police Department has called home for decades is about to change.
They’re going out with the old and in with the new, to a brand-new department in a busy part of the city.
“It’s a lot happening,” said City Manager Chris Story.
With the hustle and bustle picking up in Spartanburg, a number of city departments are going to be calling new places home.
“Police, fire, municipal court are moving into permanent homes. So, folks can get used to where to find them after we make the change,” said Story.
They are all operating out of an outdated city hall building, built in 1960 along West Broad Street. Now, they will be branching out to individual spaces.
“Many of our major functions, for the first time in a couple of generations, have spaces that were created with them in mind,” said Story.
Story said the police department is up first. They will be moving to North Forest Street by the end of October.
Right across the bridge from the new police department is where you will find the fire headquarters.
“In an existing building that’s being repurposed to become the Central Fire Station. So, it will be the fire department’s headquarters,” he said.
That’s right next to an active train track, but Story said they have ways around it.
“They will have direct access to St. John (Street), which allows them to get in all directions very quickly.”
Story said the fire department is moving in early 2024. The office portion is already being utilized, with renovations underway to the other side.
In the fall, municipal court will start operating in the new Spartanburg County Courthouse.
City Hall will be moving to a temporary location until the new joint city-county complex is built.
“We’re going to move to 187 West Broad Street, which is 100 yards from where we are today,” said Story. “We will try to time it so it has the least interruption possible, so around the holidays.”
Story said the plan for the current city hall is to tear it down, with construction starting next year on the city-county complex at the same site.
The new facilities are all being paid for through a penny sales tax approved by voters in 2017.
That sales tax will continue through April 2024. Citizens will vote in November to extend that tax for another six years to pay for road and infrastructure projects throughout the county.
