Long-hidden doors to reopen on Smith Building
by Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune
Improvements continue on the historic W.C. Smith Building at 368 and 374 N. Main St. since the town abruptly closed it last year for safety reasons, Florence’s Historic District Advisory Commission was told.
Bonnie Bariola, who appeared for owner Gem Cox at the commission’s Aug. 29 meeting, reminded the commissioners that she and Cox had met with them in February of last year to discuss the Smith Building and its future. Then two weeks later the town declared the building unsafe, turned off its electricity and evicted the tenant, a gun shop.
This resulted in the loss of “the best anchor business downtown Florence could ever have,” Bariola told HDAC. The gun shop’s best month was $200,000 in sales; the lowest month was $50,000, Bariola said. “So goodbye to those tax monies for the town!” she added.
