Media Center
February 09, 2009
New horse center sought for Kershaw
‘It’s not your typical ... project’
By JOHN MONK - jmonk@thestate.com
The State
A new horse center for Kershaw County could start hosting events by fall.
But first, an intricate minuet involving bankers, electric co-op officials, county officials and, of course, horse enthusiasts must play out to get the center up and running.
“It’s not your typical economic development project, but it does have a lot of potential to bring development to the county,” said Nelson Lindsay, county economic development director.
The new 30-acre center — the first phase of a larger plan for horse events — will be a spiffed-up reincarnation of the former Camden Equestrian Center.
Located several miles east of Camden, the center ceased operation more than a year ago and is now owned by The Bank of Travelers Rest. During its heyday, it had about 30 horse events a year.
For months, a group of local horse industry enthusiasts, who formed the S.C. Equine Promotion Foundation, has been searching for a hub for area horse-related activities that could bring major events — and dollars — to the county.
Hope Cooper, director of Camden’s National Steeplechase Museum and one of the foundation’s leaders, said last week she hopes work on the old center will begin by late spring, “at the latest.”
If repairs and cleanup, estimated at less than $100,000, go well, the center could open in the fall, she said.
Run properly and having no debt, the new center will thrive, predicted Cooper.
Still undone:
- Due diligence inspections of the property and land
- The money to buy the land — being put up by a group of local electric co-ops — will be paid to the bank. The co-ops already have transferred the money to Kershaw County. Everyone is mum on the purchase price, but it is said to be in the range of several hundred thousand dollars.
- Once the county has title, it will lease the property to the foundation. The county and foundation must finalize a contract spelling out their mutual obligations (such as the county will stay out of the horse business). The county is not going to make money on the deal; its role is to facilitate a development that will help growth.
The co-ops, which hope the money will spark the local economy, aren’t giving the money directly to the foundation because state law requires them to give money for development projects to government entities.
Eventually, the foundation wants to acquire additional land to build two large arenas, a 3,000-seat coliseum and more than 600 stalls for horses.
Since Kershaw is in the middle of South Carolina, with easy access to interstates, foundation members hope it will become a major state and national facility.
The county is home to about 4,000 horses, about 700 of which are racehorses, each worth up to $1 million or more, Cooper said.
The entire build-out plan will cost around $18 million, but no one knows where the money would come from.
Right now, folks are waiting for the first phase to open.
For Bill Leffring, owner of the Colony Inn, a 70-room motel near downtown Camden, a new center can’t come too soon.
Since the old center shut down, his gross revenues have dropped by $60,000 a year.
“People who come to that center eat, rent rooms and buy gas and hay,” Leffring said.
During weekend events, he hires several extra workers. What he pays them is spent in the local economy, he said.
“This would be better than any factory we could bring in,” he said.
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