Visitors to Landrum can continue to enjoy carriage rides around the city the second Friday of each month now through the fall.
Landrum City Council members approved using $500 a month in hospitality tax funds to cover the cost of hosting the rides.
“I think everybody that goes really enjoys it and I think it’s a positive thing for the city,” said LABA president Melanie Jennings.
Some council members, however, were concerned about the lack of return the city has made on the rides so far this year. Landrum has paid out $2,000 to fund the carriage rides for the months of March, April, May and June. Over the course of those four months, 50 people have taken the rides, netting $400.
“My concern is whether or not there is anything else we could be doing with this money that would benefit the city more,” said council member Don Smith.
City manager Steve Wolochowicz told council members the main goal was to create something that would bring or keep people in Landrum on the weekends. Mayor Bobby Briggs agreed that was the overall goal and said he felt the city needed to give the idea a few more months to really know if it could be beneficial to city businesses and restaurants.
“I know it’s hospitality tax dollars but I think it is something that will grow and I’d like to see us continue it,” Briggs said.
Jennings said she believed the downtown area could really benefit as residents would stay to eat dinner and then take carriage rides.
“The true shame is the shop owners not staying open. I think if they did stay open, they’d see the shoppers are there strolling at night, looking into the shop windows,” Jennings said. “We’re not just doing this to benefit the restaurants, we’re doing this to benefit the whole town.”
Jennings and council members discussed asking riders to take short surveys about why they were in town and making sure the driver of the rides provide tidbits of information about Landrum’s history along the rides.
The next carriage ride will be held July 8 from 6-8 p.m.