City of Hartwell Nears Completion of Depot St. Renovation

Work to revitalize Depot Street in Hartwell is just about complete.

Hartwell City Manager Jon Herschell said the project included updating the infrastructure under the street.

“We’ve totally reorganized and redesigned our storm water system downtown,” he said. “Tons of aging storm water pipes, some as old as 100 yrs old, were reorganized into one central pipe that goes around Depot St. and goes into an outfall into a creek behind Railroad St. We also replaced a sewer line that was 80 years old.”

There’s also been a lot of work going on above ground on the street itself, according to Herschell.

This has been part of a two-phase renovation of Depot Street.

Last year, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the overhaul of the historic street using an ARC grant with matching funds from the City’s SPLOST funds.

Total cost of the renovation is around $430,000.

Work began in early summer and Herschell says they just have a few more cosmetic things to do above graound.

“A lot of aesthetic and improvements have been made to the sidewalks to make it more pedestrian friendly. Also, we have new ADA upgrades to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. It was very large undertaking. It’s been a really good project. It’s now in the very final stages,” he said.

Herschel said they hope to have the street ready for their annual Halloween Monster Mash at the end of the month.