Greenville City Hall at 206 S. Main St. is closing for two years of renovation. The 10-story building is being turned over to its contractor this month, and the people who worked there have moved up Main Street to the NOMA tower. Next door on Village Green, United Community Ice on Main opens Nov. 17 in the same spot it has used for more than a decade. From opening day through mid-January, the rink is the main reason anyone has to walk to that block, at a time when the building beside it has nothing to offer the street.
The Building Next Door Is Now a Job Site
As Greenville Business Magazine reported on Oct. 16, eight city departments have finished moving into temporary offices in the NOMA office tower at 220 N. Main St. The 53-year-old City Hall will be turned over to contractor Reeves and Young beginning in November. The Greenville Journal describes the closure as two years of interior and exterior work.
For anyone who does business with the city, here is where things now happen:
- Mayor's Office, City Manager, City Clerk, Legal, Finance, Communications and Engagement, Parks, Recreation and Tourism, and the Greenville City Economic Development Corporation are in the NOMA office tower at 220 N. Main St. Visitors with appointments check in with Greenville Cares in the lobby.
- City Council moves to Room 102C at the Greenville Convention Center, 1 Exposition Drive, starting Nov. 9. Its last meeting in the old building was Oct. 26.
- Planning Commission, Historic Review Board, Design Review Board and Board of Zoning Appeals will meet monthly at Greenlink's facility at 205 Arcadia Drive.
The same announcement included one more line. United Community Ice on Main "will remain in its current location beside City Hall for the 2026 skating season." The city made that commitment for one season, and it applies to the busiest stretch of the downtown year.
A Rink That Has Already Survived One Redesign
This is the second time in five years that the rink's spot has come up while plans around it were changing. In early 2022 the Greenville Journal called Village Green the rink's original location, where it had been set up for more than 10 years. That story covered a courtyard redevelopment that raised the prospect of moving the rink. The owner later confirmed the rink would stay, and a proposed outdoor bar and dining area would use about a third of the courtyard.
When the rink came back in November 2025, WSPA called it the event's 15th year and placed it at Village Green near the Courtyard Marriott. The hotel, Courtyard Greenville Downtown at 50 W. Broad St., sits in front of the green and has its own Bistro and Market. Some directory listings give the rink's address as the corner of S. Main and Broad streets. Walking there, look for Village Green between City Hall and the Courtyard.
So in the past few years the courtyard has taken on a dining area, and now a full building renovation is starting next door. Each time, the rink has kept its place.
What the Construction Fence Is Building Toward
What the city plans to build next door is why the rink's place matters. The Greenville Journal's May 2026 design report describes a building that opens toward the street. Plans include a glass facade, a lobby and front entrance that extend six feet toward Main Street, and preserved travertine around the elevator shaft. Council chambers will move from the 10th floor to a new street-level addition at the rear. The first floor gets a coffee shop and larger public gathering areas. City departments will fill the first six floors, and floors seven through ten will be built as shells for future use.
Mayor Knox White explained the thinking in the Greenville Business Magazine announcement:
"City Hall is at the intersection of two defining districts, and this renovation embraces that overlap with purpose. By extending the energy of Upper Main's active, mixed‑use corridor and drawing forward the civic character of Court Square, the design blurs the edges between them, creating a 'new front door' that signals openness, invites participation and strengthens the connection between the City and its residents."
The design team is DP3 Architects with Perkins & Will. According to the Greenville Journal, the city's estimate in September 2025 was about $35 million to $40 million, paid for with capital reserves and a bond. In May 2026 the target for finishing was late 2028.
Put those plans next to the rink and they line up. A street-facing lobby with a coffee shop and public seating is meant to give people a reason to stop on that block in any month. Every winter, the rink already does that for about nine weeks.
Nine Weeks on Village Green
This season runs from Nov. 17, 2026, through Jan. 18, 2027, and City of Greenville Special Events is presenting it. Before you go, check ticket prices and daily hours on the city's Ice on Main page. Over the past few seasons the rink has been open seven days a week except Christmas Day, with longer hours on weekends.
The rink also anchors a short stretch of Main Street that holds most of downtown's holiday events. The tree, the parade and the symphony all fall within a few blocks of Village Green, mostly on one weekend in early December. In date order:
- Nov. 17: Ice on Main opens on Village Green beside City Hall.
- Nov. 20: The Greenville Christmas Market opens at Grand Bohemian Lodge Greenville, 44 E. Camperdown Way, and runs through Dec. 27 with live music, local vendors, holiday food and drinks, and photos with Santa. The market calls itself Greenville's newest holiday tradition. Its site also promotes a Winter Wonderland at Spirit & Bower, with holiday cocktails and photo backdrops overlooking Falls Park.
- Dec. 4: Night of Lights, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., lights the 30-foot tree and its 25,550 LEDs at Main and Court streets in front of M. Judson Booksellers, 130 S. Main St. That puts Court Square, one of the two districts the mayor named, a short walk from the rink.
- Dec. 4 to 6: The Greenville Symphony Orchestra's Holiday at Peace in the Peace Center Concert Hall, with evening performances Friday and Saturday and a Sunday matinee.
- Dec. 5: The Poinsettia Christmas Parade on Main Street at 6 p.m., free to attend.
The busiest stretch is the first weekend of December. The tree lighting and the symphony's opening night are Friday, and the parade is Saturday night. All of it takes place along the street that City Hall's new entrance will face. With the building closed this year, the rink is the one piece of that block open to the public, and it will be lit and running through the whole weekend.
The Corner After January
Ice on Main closes for the season on Jan. 18, 2027. For the rest of the renovation, the block will be mostly the job site, with Reeves and Young working toward a target of late 2028. The city's statement about the rink covers the 2026 skating season. From Nov. 17 to Jan. 18, a stretch of about nine weeks, the corner where the city is building its "new front door" is open to anyone with a pair of skates.
At The Gallo Company, we work a few blocks away at 404 River St. and follow changes to downtown's civic blocks closely, because projects like the City Hall renovation shape how people use Main Street for years. If you'd like to talk through what a project like this could mean for a downtown condo or commercial property you own or are considering, we're glad to help.
