With the clock ticking on state funds allocated for the purpose, Lexington is mulling where it could put a proposed conference center.

The center was originally planned to be part of Smallwood Cove, a lakefront resort project that was announced in early-May before falling apart in the face of strong public backlash. Now, the town will have to come up with a new plan for the center or the funds will go back to the state.

“The Town believes that a Lexington County Conference Center remains a possibility because the funding was not tied to a specific location,” Laurin Barnes, communications manager for the town, told the Chronicle.  "However, there are no plans at this point given the recent withdrawal of the proposed location.”

According to Barnes, Lexington has already received $5 million of the $16 million allocated from the state for a conference center/meeting space in the town, with acceptance papers for that first payment having been signed in October of last year.

Barnes said that once those papers were signed the town had 36 months to spend the money, adding that extensions could be granted. She added that since the money is not tied to one location, the remaining funds coming to the town should not be impacted.

As it was announced as part of Smallwood Cove, the center was set to be between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet and would be intended to host meetings and events inside the town limits. The original price tag for the conference center was announced as $30 million, which would be paid for by the town and defrayed by the state allocations.

Who would run the center, which was initially set to be operated by one of the hotels set to be a part of Smallwood Cove, is also in the air now.

During an unprecedented joint work session between Lexington County Council and Lexington Town Council, Lexington Council Member Ron Williams proposed building the center in a different location if Smallwood didn’t work out. He later specified to the Chronicle that it could potentially be built off Interstate 20, either along Sunset Boulevard/U.S. Highway 378 or Augusta Road/U.S. Highway 1.

“There's that access still in town that would give folks that are using the facility the ability to come to town to eat, shop and do things they needed to do and still be at that facility for the functions that they wanted to happen,” he said “But it would also move the traffic to the interstate and get it off of Corley Mill Road, which would make things possibly a lot better.”

Williams told the Chronicle the town is taking a moment to breathe following the end of Smallwood Cove, saying that everybody is trying to reassess and figure out for themselves how they want to move forward.

He emphasized that the town will need to hear from citizens on what they want to see developed before moving forward.

“A lot of studies need to be done before we make a final decision,” he added.

Town Council Member Todd Carnes said Lexington is “just going back to the drawing board to conceptualize what would be uniform, what would be useful and where that might be.”

“And none of that work has been done since we're only about two weeks out from the project being pulled,” he added.

Carnes told the Chronicle that the addition of a broad meeting space would be great for the town, saying that there is no such significant space currently. 

Williams said he’s withholding judgment on whether a conference center is right for Lexington until a feasibility study is conducted.

"There's two sides to every coin and we need to explore that. What would that look like? How would we do it? Who would we get to do it?” he said. “And then we get our town advisory committee to take that task on and … then report back to us their beliefs.”