CHINA GROVE — Making your way to downtown China Grove typically promises for a pleasant outing no matter what the occasion. 

Whether you are going out to shop, eat, have a drink or visit the park, there is something to look forward to. And now, that experience is going to get even better.

Town staff and the council are taking steps to make parking, walking and accessing all that China Grove has to offer safer for visitors and residents. The Main Street Corridor Study and Streetscapes redevelopment is a comprehensive project that seeks to beautify and revamp China Grove’s quaint downtown charm.

In 2022, the town of China Grove completed a planning study for the Main Street corridor. The study identified improvements for Main Street including new crosswalks, sidewalk improvements, placemaking, landscaping and more. The town and its consultant team continued that progress by developing plans for construction of Main Street from Ketchie Street to Patterson Street, including Hanna Park, with the intention of beginning construction in early 2025, hoping to have it ready for the town’s signature event Farmers’ Day in the summer.

Parks and Recreation Director Jill Sellers said that about 90 percent of the events that China Grove hosts take place downtown. With increased foot traffic as an inherent feature of those events, safety can become a concern.

“Our plan is going to improve parking, improve some of the pedestrian safety, which is a really big thing, because we don’t have any crosswalks downtown, and this is going to put a couple of them in, and that’s going to help a lot,” Sellers said.

Nestled in the middle of China Grove is Hanna Park. It offers a stage and green space in a central location for the town’s get togethers. 

Sellers indicated that planned improvements to Hanna Park are aimed to make it more “inviting for people,” since because there’s going to be lights and there’s going to be picnic tables for people to sit.

“We were fortunate to get enough money to include Hanna Park,” Sellers said. “It really ties into events because it is going to make the event process a lot more friendly for people who come to Farmers Day and any event that brings people to downtown.”

The project has a few components.

• Bulb-outs will create a greater opportunity for landscaping, branding and placemaking elements while proving horizontal deflection that can calm traffic speeds when deployed correctly. Bulb outs also serve to minimize the crossing distance for those walking. 
• Crosswalks added at intersections along Main Street will provide safe, visible locations for pedestrians to cross that don’t currently exist. When couple with the bulb-outs, the pedestrian crossing experience is made better by shortening crossing distances and allowing for those walking to better see around parked vehicles.
• The bulb outs offer a chance for enhancing downtown beautification by creating a space for landscaping. Under-story trees and native species can enhance the overall appearance of Main Street and improve the pedestrian space by providing shade and vegetated buffers. 
• Wayfinding to direct people to places of interest within the downtown area was one of the most popular sentiments expressed to the project team during the stakeholder interviews with Main Street business owners. 
• Seating can be provided in Hanna Park for people wishing to eat downtown and the benches along the road can be reoriented away from the street to face each other and provide for better gathering spaces. 

“It may not seem like big changes, but I feel like there’s gonna be a lot of small changes that come together and really make some of our events feel a lot more community based,” Sellers said.

At the end of the day, its about quality over quantity and ensuring that China Grove gives its visitors and residents everything they expect when they come downtown.

Town Manager Franklin Gover indicated that the town has been on the receiving end of various form as assistance including N.C. Department of Commerce Rural Transformation grants.

“We received two RTG Grants $49,999 for planning and $775,000 for downtown revitalization,” Gover said in an email.

China Grove also received a large sum from the N.C. legislature. 

“Our local legislators helped the town receive a generous appropriation from the General Assembly for $825,000,” he said. 

Sellers and town staff are excited about the lineup of events for 2025 and what the improved setting will mean for them. 

“We listened to the residents and listened to our downtown businesses and listened to our Parks Board and our stakeholders,” Sellers said, adding that they started to explore what they had done traditionally and how they could improve upon the town’s offerings. 

“We took a step back and looked at all of our events,” she said. “… There is a new fall event that’s going to happen downtown, and that’s going to be kind of like a little mini Main Street Fall Festival. And then our other big event is Christmas in the Grove, which is also a Main Street festival that is all about community. That’s kind of like our key word, the theme of 2025, is community.”

Not every event is going to fill the streets like Farmer’s Day, but that doesn’t change the goal.

“It may not be like huge events where you see, like, 5,000 people but if we can make it a meaningful event for 500 people, that’s just as important,” Sellers said.