North Charleston breaking ground on $20 million makeover of Park Circle
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Park Circle is officially getting a makeover.
The City of North Charleston is breaking ground Wednesday on a $20 million redevelopment project in the center of the community. The work looks to transform the circle.
Previously, there used to be a community center, a butterfly garden, a green space and baseball field. But the community center was demolished just a few days ago, with the baseball field torn up as well.
City officials say those amenities were outdated and didn’t fit the needs of their citizens today, which leaders hope will change with the completion of this project.
Improvements include a new cultural arts and recreation facility twice the size of the previous building, as well as an all-inclusive baseball field, a 55,000-square-foot accessible playground, and repaving of the walking path around the circle. The playground is expected to be one of the largest on the East Coast.
TJ Rostin, the city’s park and recreation manager, says he believes this will be the first facility of its kind in the Lowcountry and that it will help build a path for more like it in the future.
“This facility is going to be magnificent,” Rostin said. “When we open this, it's going to be one of the most state-of-the-art facilities this region in the Lowcountry has seen in quite some time [and will be something] everybody can have fun with. Just like I said, [the space will] really meet the needs of every citizen we have.”
The redevelopment is expected to take anywhere from 12-16 months, and Rostin says he hopes to welcome North Charleston residents to it by fall of 2023.
While this might be the biggest project to date for the city, it is certainly not the first project leaders have put together, as officials say they are making a commitment to bring more inclusive facilities to North Charleston.
The city just unveiled a new all-inclusive park in the Oak Terrace community in April. They also committed $26 million to improvements the Danny Jones Recreational Complex, which is expected to break ground by the end of the summer.
The new playground that will be built in Park Circle will also be a testing site for external research companies to analyze its impact in the community for future projects.
Rostin says these projects and resources put towards them will help citizens utilize the facilities more, which they hope will lead to more activity in the community.
“We’re starting with the Rec. Department facilities because we know those are the facilities that most people enjoy and use on a daily basis. We're really trying to reach out to every part of our community to make sure what we have and that we're here for them, they can utilize our facilities utilize our programs in any way that they need to,” Rostin added.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said he would have started remodeling the Park Circle area sooner, but the city only received ownership of the land two years ago.
Funds for the project came from taxes and revenue bonds through the tax increment financing district in the city. Funding will also go towards improvements at the Danny Jones Recreational Complex.
The groundbreaking at Park Circle will happen at around 10 a.m. on Wednesday.