Clinton — Clinton's waterfront could look very different in the next few years.
The Anderson County Chamber of Commerce wants to create an open space that would change downtown drastically.
The plan includes the redevelopment of the Magnet Mills site, a seven-acre plot along the river.
On April 12, an administrative judge told the owners they had 60 days to either demolish the building or have a plan for redevelopment.
"I'm ready for some changes over there," Hoskins Drugs owner Mollie Scarborough said.
Scarborough said she's looked at the blighted property for too long.
"I don't like what I see now, and it's not pretty," Scarborough said.
She said the Magnet Mills site isn't helping her business, which sits on Main Street downtown.
"We want businesses over there, we want living spaces over there, anything that it has to offer, we're excited for someone to take control of it and get something going," Scarborough said.
But right now, the future's up in the air.
"Magnet Mills is kind of the diamond," Rick Meredith said.
Anderson County Chamber of Commerce President Rick Meredith knows his downtown revitalization project hinges on it.
"If that property is developed, whether it's housing, mixed-use, or whatever it turns out to be, it's a catalyst for all the other development on Market and Main Street," Meredith said.
The Chamber had prominent urban designer Gianni Longo draw out an open, marketplace vision that includes new shops with apartments above.
"The trees and the green space that they're going to bring back would be fantastic for Clinton," Scarborough said.
It comes as TDOT plans a new "green bridge", the U.S. 25W bridge, across the Clinton River.
TDOT hopes bids will go out this summer.
Now, it's a matter of gathering financial support.
"That's could be a public-private partnership, we could create that," Meredith said. "We could actually ask the city for funding, there are several enhancement grants through TDOT as far as the roadways and these medians."
Meredith said the project is going to have to come in smaller phases and said he hopes to have more solid plans in place in the next six months.