City of Florence receives $50,000 grant to create Mural Pocket Park

FLORENCE, S.C. (WMBF) – The city of Florence received a huge grant to help bring a new park to the area.

Florence was selected as one of the winners of the T-Mobile Hometown Grants.

The program was launched in April 2021 and is a $25 million, five-year initiative to support the people and organizations who help small towns across America. Since its start, T-Mobile has given more than $6.8 million to 150 towns across 41 states.

The city of Florence will use the money to create the North Dargan Street Mural Pocket Park to help increase community engagement in the northern end of the Downtown Florence Historic District.

“We are grateful to T-Mobile for selecting the North Dargan Street Mural Pocket Park as a Hometown Grant recipient. We are looking forward to this opportunity to complete a new public gathering space along the North Dargan Street corridor, and this grant will allow us to bring our vision to fruition as a complement to the mural in progress at the site,” said Florence Assistant City Manager Clint Moore.

The city of Myrtle Beach, Marion and Laurinburg have also been recipients of the grant.

In Myrtle Beach, the grant money went toward replacing and installing 24 new interpretive signs at Bathsheba Bowens Memorial Park and educating visitors about the local African American culture, history and environment.

Marion used the grant money for park enhancements to honor Clementa Pinckney who was one of the victims in the Charleston church shootings.

And in Laurinburg, the money from the grant was used to install a dog park.

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