UNITYPARKGREENVILLE UNITY GREENVILLE.COM | GREENVILLE, SC | #BUILD UNITY
UNITY PARK
a promise fulfilled Just days after Falls Park opened in 2004, its local architect,
Publisher Mark B. Johnston
Tom Keith, walked into my office at City Hall. Falls Park reclaimed Reedy River Falls, Greenville’s birthplace. The architectural and engineering masterpiece of
General Manager Susan Schwartzkopf
the Liberty Bridge framed the landscaped gardens below. “It’s time to build the next park,” Keith pronounced, as he tossed a dog-eared copy of the 1907 master plan for Greenville on my desk. Within its 48 pages describing turn-of-the-century
professional baseball team. Though it occurred in 1938, they spoke as if it happened yesterday.
Greenville in pictures and words, the booklet envisioned a
Led by retired mail carrier E.B Holloway and Henry
series of parks along the Reedy, or what the Boston landscape
Percival, head bellman at Hotel Greenville, neighborhood
architecture firm of Kelsey & Gould described as “the most
residents appeared before City Council to urge construction
important single feature to be considered in the development
of a new park for Black children. They were joined by some
and beautifying of the city.” The first, Cleveland Park, was built
of Greenville’s leading voices, including business leader Hugh
just a few years after the plan’s publication. Now, nearly a
Aiken, distinguished educator L.P. Hollis, and – I was surprised
century later, Falls Park was complete.
to learn – my great-grandmother, Rhoda Haynsworth, wife of
Keith turned my attention to page 40, where Harlan Kelsey
the founder of the law firm that bears his name.
identified a 50-acre patch of swampy land straddling the river
Council beat a hasty retreat and approved a motion to
west of downtown for a park he called Hudson Athletic Fields.
explore plans for a new park. Though the mayor pledged
I was generally familiar with the area. The city Public Works
proper consideration of the proposal, nothing became of it
Department sat on 22 acres so prone to flooding that city
despite letters to the editor, a petition signed by 400 and
workers perched trash cans atop desks to keep them above
continued debate for several more years.
the water. A 2002 Clemson University master plan for the Reedy River corridor also envisioned a park on the site, along
At those neighborhood meetings, we heard the message: It was time to make amends for a century of wrongs.
with what would become the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit
Time to preserve green space for future generations while
Trail. Armed with a sketch from Keith, we began meeting with
we have a fleeting opportunity to do so. Time to set aside
residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. “What would
nearby land owned by the city for affordable, workforce and
you think about a park in your neighborhood?” we asked.
senior housing as a bulwark against market forces.
The idea of a park received a warm reception. We, in turn, got a history lesson. For generations, we were told, the City of Greenville treated this area as its backyard. We already knew of the junked police vehicles strewn across the Public Works facility, threatening the river with leaking oil and gas.
Time to move the Public Works facility and its employees out of the flood plain. Time to fulfill the promise the city made decades ago to the neighborhoods on the westside of Greenville. Unity Park opens on May 19 after more than a decade of community engagement, public debate, and planning. And
But neighborhood residents also described garbage piled
just as they did before, community and business leaders
high at two dumps on the land, and the incinerators that
stepped forward to support the public-private project by
burned trash and animal carcasses. They spoke of the jail
contributing nearly $14 million.
that once sat at the corner of Hudson and Mayberry streets,
It’s called Unity Park because it looks to the future, not at the
and the inmates who shouted from the barred windows as
expense of history but because of where our history has taken us.
students walked past on their way to school.
Unity Park is as much an affirmation of our diversity and the
They recalled a police shooting range built on the edge of
pride we share in the amazing city Greenville has become as
Mayberry Park, the only park in the city where Black children
much as it is an aspiration of what it can be. I hope you will join
could play during segregation. Open to the public for pistol
with Unity Park’s neighbors in enjoying Greenville’s “next park.”
practice, nearby homes bore holes from errant bullets. And they described the time the city appropriated half of Mayberry Park to build a baseball stadium for an all-white
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581 Perry Avenue Greenville, SC 29611 864.679.1200
KNOX WHITE
Mayor of Greenville
CommunityJournals.com
There are dozens of reasons why Unity Park exists. Here are 20 of them.
The Hughes Agency is honored to have played an essential role in the creation of Unity Park. We look forward to the joy and connection it brings to our wonderful city.
hughes-agency.com
“EVERYBODY NEEDS BEAUTY AS WELL AS BREAD, PLACES TO PLAY IN AND PRAY IN, WHERE NATURE MAY HEAL AND GIVE STRENGTH TO BODY AND SOUL.” — John Muir
noun
u·ni·ty | \ 'yü-n -tē | yoo-ni-tee e
1. the state of not being multiple; ONENESS 2. a condition of harmony; ACCORD 3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; UNIFICATION 4. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one. 5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement. 6. A PARK 100+ YEARS IN THE MAKING
111 WELBORN AVE., GREENVILLE, SC 29601
Unity Park is west of downtown Greenville on the site of the former Mayberry and Meadowbrook parks. The park stretches from A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering on the southeastern edge to the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks.
UNITYPARKGREENVILLE.COM | #BUILDUNITY
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Unity Park quick facts PARK SIZE: 60 acres
TD SYNNEX PLAYGROUND
OLD TREES, NEW TREES: • 219 trees preserved • 750 deciduous, evergreen and understory trees will be planted
SIZE: 30,400 SQUARE FEET (ABOUT THE SIZE OF 3 1/2 TENNIS COURTS) • Slides • Rope climbing structures • Boulder scrambles • Balance log and beams • Two lookout towers (modeled after towers along the Blue Ridge Parkway) • Mounds
KEY FIGURES: • Private donations: $10.2 million • Parking spaces: 362
AURO BRIDGE • Spans 165 feet over Reedy River • Built by Bridge Brothers of Atlanta
SPINKS FAMILY BRIDGE • Spans 110 feet over Reedy River • Made of prefabricated steel
HAGINS FAMILY BRIDGE • Pedestrian and bike crossing over Reedy River at Hudson Street.
PRISMA HEALTH WELCOME CENTER The 10,000-square-foot Prisma Health Welcome Center serves as the very center of the park, between the playgrounds and Reedy River.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE CENTER? • A self-service first-aid station • A lactation room • A public events space for neighborhood and family gatherings • A wraparound porch with views of the river and the trail
MEADOWBROOK GREEN Named for the historic Meadowbrook Park, which was originally constructed in the late 1930s. The green will be an ideal place for games, picnics, family gatherings, dog walks and more.
MAYBERRY FIELD The historic ballpark, which still stands today, was originally built in the 1920s so Jim Crow-era Black children could have a place to play. The park will be renovated and restored.
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DONOVAN PLAYGROUND (TODDLERS ONLY) SIZE: 13,200 SQUARE FEET (ABOUT THE SIZE OF AN OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL) • All-in-one play structure • Custom log bridge • Toddler swings • Teeter-totters • Auditory/sensory equipment • Giant green salamander play structure
GREENVILLE WATER SPLASH PAD SIZE: 4,100 SQUARE FEET • 40 spray jets • Special toddlers-only play zone
ANN WATSON TROTTER MEMORIAL GARDEN SIZE: EQUIVALENT TO TWO BASKETBALL COURTS • Swings • Nature play elements • Climbing wall • Storytelling circle DID YOU KNOW? The playground also features a fence made of Corten steel from local design firm The Heirloom Companies (which also designed the park’s iconic picnic canopy structures), which is designed to emulate blades of grass blowing in the wind. The fence will be set in beds of ornamental grass.
HONOR TOWER
The planned observation tower, designed by Endrestudio, will be built on one of the few pieces of “high ground” south of the Reedy River beside the historic Mayberry Field and Meadowbrook Green. Funding is still underway, but when the tower is complete in the next phase of park construction, it will allow park-goers to walk up the circular stairs of the twisting structure to the tenth story for expansive views of the Greenville skyline.
THE CELEBRATION BEGINS MAY 19 …AND THAT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING After 22 months of construction, Unity Park will open to the public May 19 at 10 a.m. with a grand opening celebration at the park’s Prisma Health Welcome Center. From then on, the park will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. and the welcome center’s hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless there is an event. While construction fences will be coming down and much of the 60-acre park will open to the public in May, some elements will still be under construction.. The largest among them is Mayberry Field, some of the sports courts and the cultural walk. Fundraising for the observation tower is also ongoing. Park visitors will have access to a variety of amenities, including playgrounds, splash pad, welcome center and green spaces. Upcoming Unity Park events include: • May 22, 2-5 p.m. – Neighborhood Celebration for Southernside and West Greenville community residents • May 28 – Unity Park CommUNITY Celebration • June 17 – Juneteenth Celebration • June 26 – Nature Day For invited guests of the grand opening, Greenlink trolley service will be provided from City Hall to Unity Park from 8:30 a.m. to noon.
UNITY PARK THROUGH THE YEARS May 2018: “Unity Park” is given its name. August 2018: Project receives first major donation from SYNNEX Corp. (now TD SYNNEX) — $250,000 to fund a playground. January 2019: In-kind donations and sponsorships hit $5 million mark. April 2019: City earmarks about $7 million to fund park construction. May 2019: Former Public Works complex on South Hudson Street is demolished, signaling the official start of the Unity Park project. June 2020: City adopts Unity Park Neighborhood District code to guide development in surrounding areas. July 2020: Unity Park formally breaks ground, construction begins. March 2021: City sets aside 8 acres of land near the park for affordable housing. August 2021: Workers install 110-foot Spinks Bridge over Reedy River. April 2022: City dedicates Lila Mae Brock plaza sponsored by William Randolph Hearst Foundation, ScanSource, Verizon, William W. and Dr. Karen Brown, Fluor Corporation and Bank of America. May 19, 2022: Unity Park opens to the public.
PHOTO: PRETTY PLACE CHAPEL AT YMCA CAMP GREENVILLE
The YMCA’s commitment to the Greater Greenville Community is developing new generations of changemakers aspiring to make each neighborhood a place where children, adults, and families can learn, grow, and thrive. For more than a century, the Y has been working to support youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility for all. We envision a vibrant, dynamic commmunity where all people achieve health, gain confidence, make connections, and feel secure at every stage of life.
YMCA OF GREENVILLE OUR MISSION
FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST, WE BUILD HEALTHY SPIRIT, MIND, AND BODY FOR ALL.
The Metropolitan Arts Council (MAC) congratulates the City of Greenville on the opening of Unity Park. MAC greatly appreciates the outstanding level of support for the arts that the city provides on an annual basis. greenvillearts.com
Located at the corner of West Washington and South Hudson streets, Lila Mae Brock Plaza includes a flower garden and a bronze statue of Brock by local artist Charles Pate, Jr. cpatejr.com
A LABOR OF LOVE, A SYMBOL OF HEALING
City leaders celebrate Unity Park’s significance Unity Park has been a labor of love for many on city council, with the goal of supporting green space, allowing for children to play in a safe place, and bringing the community together. For others, the park is a symbol of Greenville working to overcome the past in an area once symbolic of the Jim Crow-era South. The park will be a center for affordable housing, recreation and various events. Moreover, the 60-acre park will feature some of the latest sustainable building techniques. Greenville Housing Fund and the city planned a vibrant, sustainable and complementary mixed-income neighborhood that is reflective of the entire community. Private citizens and local businesses have donated a combined $18.2 million in gifts and land to build the park. Unity Park includes several bridges, a segment of the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail, a splash pad, three playgrounds, a renovated and restored Mayberry Park and a welcome center. More than 100 years ago, landscape architect Harlan Kelsey recommended several projects designed to beautify Greenville. Since 2020 when construction crews began work on Unity Park, it has been a symbol of change, one local leaders hail as one of the biggest projects to come to the city and certainly another jewel in Greenville’s downtown crown. We asked city council members to offer their thoughts on the park’s significance. This is what they said:
“
(The park) is a deferred gift restored.” LILLIAN BROCK FLEMMING, DISTRICT 2
“
Unity Park will be a great game changer just like Falls Park was 20 years ago. New green space for the city at a time of great growth around here — so what’s the best thing we can do while providing green space is probably the most important thing we do. It’s also going to open the footprint for affordable housing in the whole city around that site. It’s going to be one of those great livability things in Greenville.” MAYOR KNOX WHITE
“I’m excited to think of the countless individuals who will be positively impacted by this special space in years to come. Unity Park fulfills what is truly a century-old vision of expanding and enhancing Greenville’s park space, and will bring together both those in our surrounding community and others who visit our beautiful city. The opening of Unity Park wouldn’t be possible without the dedication and commitment of so many over the years — it’s another great example of how impactful the spirit of collaboration and public-private partnerships can be.”
WIL BRASINGTON, DISTRICT 4
It’s a transformative project. It’s going to be one of the most impactful things we’ll end up doing. It’s gonna be an opportunity for anyone from any walk of life of any background to enjoy a park that’s within walking distance from downtown. JOHN DEWORKEN, DISTRICT 1
“I’m excited to see it come to fruition. It’s going to astound us with the impact to the community.” RUSSELL STALL, AT LARGE
“I think Unity Park is going to be a great addition to our community. I’m especially happy we have the foresight to reserve that amount of green space in the city. It’s going to be something everybody’s flocking to.” KEN GIBSON, DISTRICT 3
“
I think it’s a time to celebrate a huge accomplishment during a tough time. I think it’ll be a real asset to the community.” DOROTHY DOWE, AT LARGE
UNITY PARK 2022 |
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Grounded in Community WE PROMISE AN UNMATCHED LEVEL OF PERSONAL SERVICE WHEN YOU BUY OR SELL YOUR HOME.
In the Center of It All We are guided by a passionate pursuit to help make downtown Greenville and its surrounding communities a better place for everyone to enjoy. Our flagship development project, The Commons, helped ignite the dynamic growth in downtown’s West End corridor along the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Whether it’s to serve the real estate needs of our neighbors, or to develop projects that help Greenville thrive, the Parker Group is dedicated to sustainable growth and building unity through community.
Located at The Commons in the heart of Unity Park
864.609.7219 | ParkerGroupServices.com
BY THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY
A project years in the making MEET THE MINDS
Darren Meyer JOB TITLE: MKSK principal EXPERIENCE: 23 years as a landscape architect and city planner NOTABLE PROJECTS: • Chattanooga Downtown Riverfront project on the Tennessee River • Indianapolis Downtown Riverfront project on the White River • Columbus Downtown Riverfront project on the Scioto River • Louisville Downtown Riverfront Ph4 project on the Ohio River Neil Wilson (right) of Harper General Contractors on site visit to Unity Park. Photo provided by Harper General Contractors.
While Unity Park has been under construction for about two years, the planning for the project has been going on much longer. “We got engaged in late 2015, early 2016 when the city was looking to do both some planning around the park and developing the design of the park,” said Darren Meyer, principal at MKSK, the planning, urban design and landscape architecture collective behind the project. “We’ve been at it for a little more than six years now.” Throughout the project, approximately 20 different firms have been tapped to assist with different types of engineering, lighting design and ecological restoration. Among the businesses that assisted in this project are Biohabitats, a firm specializing in river restoration and ecological design; Aquatic Creations, which works with water features; and McMillan Pazden Smith and Endres Studio, which worked on the design and architectural elements, said Meyer. “We are the construction manager at risk for the entire park development [and] what has been built to date, we have been involved in all of it,” said Harper General Contractors senior project manager Neil Wilson. “I started working on the project in October 2019 [and] I
have been the main project manager from pre-construction phase all the way through construction. We helped define the budget of each portion of the park [and] contract all the trade contractors and manage those contracts through completion of construction activity.” With construction winding down and the park opening around the corner, Wilson says he is grateful for the opportunity to work on the park. “I have done everything from commercial office buildings to industrial developments,” said Wilson. “Getting the opportunity to do something like a park is really exciting because it’s not something that anybody gets to do on a regular basis, but it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been really great to be involved in something that going to be accessible to the entire community.” Similar to Wilson, Meyer is excited to see how people use Unity Park. “The most rewarding part of the project for me is coming up next,” said Meyer. “I love to see when these parks open. How people are using them, kids using them and the sort of joy and fun you can see when folks are out there in great public parks playing and having fun. I’m very excited that we are getting very close to having that up and running in the next couple of months.”
Neil Wilson JOB TITLE: Harper General Contractors senior project manager EXPERIENCE: 13 years in the commercial construction industry, 8 years with Harper NOTABLE PROJECTS: • Broad Street parking garage in Greenville • City of Greenville Public Works facility • Aug Smith on Main in Spartanburg
CONSULTANT TEAM MEMBERS PARK DESIGN AND ENGINEERING • MKSK – Lead designer; landscape architecture • Biohabitats – River restoration • EMH&T – Civil engineering and water resources engineering • Endres Studio – Tower and shelters - architecture • McMillan Pazdan Smith – Visitors center and restroom – architecture • Aquatic Creations – Water feature engineering • Abundant Playscapes – Playground compliance review and inspection • S+ME – Geotechnical engineering • Burdette Engineering – Electrical engineering • Carolina Engineering Solutions – Mechanical engineering • Britt Peters and Associates – Structural engineering • CD+M – Lighting design • CLC Labs – Turfgrass agronomy PARK AND NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING • MKSK – Lead planner • Bihl Engineering – Traffic planning • Ridgeway Traffic Consulting – Traffic planning • Site Masters – Playground compliance review • Development Strategies – Real estate market analysis • Atelier 10 – Environmental and resiliency assessment • Sustainable Settlements – Form-based code draft • National Development Council – Affordable housing analysis Source: Darren Meyer
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10. 10.
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P P P
9. 7. 1.
8. 2. 6.
3. 4.
A Few Features Connectivity & Mobility 1. Spinks Family Bridge 2. Auro Bridge 3. Hagins Family Bridge
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Open Space 4. Meadowbrook Green 5. Michelin Green
Recreation 6. Picnic Shelters 7. Playgrounds & Splash Pad 8. Basketball Courts
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Neighborhoods 9. Prisma Health Welcome Center 10. Planned Affordable Housing Projects
illustration by Laura Allshouse
We’re proud to be a part of unity park
MICHELIN GREEN | UNITY PARK
As a global company committed to improving mobility for all, Michelin is honored to partner with the city of Greenville and other community partners to bring Unity Park to life.
Copyright 2022 Michelin North America, Inc. All rights reserved.
The goal for Unity Park is simple — to bring people together. As a credit union, we know this cooperative spirit all too well. It’s what spurred the credit union movement many centuries ago when individuals not afforded traditional banking opportunities pooled their
United in Hope for a
Brighter Future
money together to make their financial lives better. It is through unity that they were made stronger; we still believe this today. Just like our name, Unity Park represents hope.
BRI A N MCK AY
For decades, Mary Duckett has inspired others with her invaluable commitment to making Greenville a better place to live, work, and play.
President/CEO Spero Financial
Spero Financial celebrates her legacy—one that will be remembered for uniting a community—by dedicating their contribution to Unity Park in her honor: the Mary Frances Duckett Plaza by Spero Financial.
Improving Financial Lives in South Carolina for over 85 years www.spero.financial
INSURED BY NCUA
BY THE COMMUNITY, FOR THE COMMUNITY
Unity Park’s design the work of many minds If there is one concept that purveys Unity Park’s design, it is community. According to Jeff Waters, senior capital projects manager for the city of Greenville’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism department, planners early on recognized the need for a community-led effort, particularly input from the Southernside and West Greenville communities. “We wanted to make sure we had the right input and that it wasn’t just the design team working in a vacuum,” Waters says.
FAMILY-FORWARD CONCEPT MKSK Studios principal Darren Meyer, one of the park’s lead designers, says by-and-large, people asked that the park be a place for families and children. “[We] built on a lot of great work with what the city had done previously in terms of conversations and planning with those neighborhoods and the broader community,” Meyer says. “We looked at how to better connect the neighborhoods to the park and the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail. We looked at how the development would take shape in the surrounding neighborhoods [and] put together an affordable housing strategy and form-based code to help guide development as well as looking at the park design. It was much more than just the park itself looking holistically at how the park and the neighborhoods around it interfaced.”
He says the heart of the park, which contains a water feature, destination play area and the Mary F. Duckett Plaza honoring the longtime Southernside community leader, were intentionally designed to be places where families could gather and relax. “It’s just a place of comfort and coming together right there at the heart of the park,” Meyer says. “Those elements were designed to serve the community there.” The design of the destination MKSK Studios principal Darren Meyer, one of the park’s lead play area is a reflection of the designers, and his team. Upstate’s geography. Mounds are meant to reflect the mountains and Association, and Waters says this is one reason provide some “pretty cool vantage points,” Meyer says. planners incorporated connecting sidewalks to the Waters adds that architectural features in the area Southernside neighborhood and will eventually are meant to hearken back to the train depot once include access over the Norfolk Southern railroad located at the end of Washington Street. tracks to West Greenville. “The little touches like that are pretty special and A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT certainly make the playground unique,” Waters says. Another important consideration for designers The 60-acre park straddles the Reedy River, once was equity and access for traditionally underserved a dividing line between the Southernside and West communities surrounding the park. Such Greenville communities. A series of three bridges considerations should be a priority for park planners, span the river and represent a physical connection at according to the National Recreation and Park the heart of the park’s form and function.
Almost as important as the design of the park’s features was the effort put into flood mitigation elements, particularly restoring the banks of the Reedy River to more natural contours.
But the river represented more than a dividing line — it’s also a flood risk. As a result, streambank restoration along the river’s channel is intended to restore a more natural flow to the river during flood events, Meyer says. The banks have been contoured to allow water to flow into the park during smaller flood events where they will be slowed down by landscape features and plants. Such overflows are natural in a floodplain, Meyer explains, and allowing sediments to settle out by slowing down runoff is healthier for the river and surrounding land. Meyer says designers also removed a lot of pavement and concrete in the area that exacerbated runoff problems, thus improving the river’s water quality. “The river’s going to flood — we can’t control that,” Meyer says. “It was designed previously to keep all those small flood events in the channel, but it’s much healthier to allow those small flood events to come out in the park.”
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Troubled past, hopeful future At the start of the 20th century, Meadowbrook Park Greenville was a city of rapid change. Massive new textile mills ushered in more than 8,000 workers and their families. Street-rail construction began connecting different parts of the city, as now-historic neighborhoods began to form: Hampton-Pinckney, Alta Vista, Earle Street. Grocery stores popped up. Church steeples spiraled skyward. Horses clopped down new roads while children filed into the local schoolhouses. It was a city of “merchant and manufactures,” according to one report from 1904, a city of “handsome homes and public buildings” to house the “wonderful growth.” As the city blossomed with Victorian homes and rang out with the bells of street trolleys from Greenville Historical Society, Joe Jordan Collection McBee Avenue to Main Street, the municipal league decided some of the city’s MORE THAN A NAME namesake “green” needed to be preserved as public Of course, the name — and the park — are a balm, parks for the growing number of residents. of sorts; a way to help a community heal from a To do so, the league commissioned landscape painful history. architect Harlan Kelsey to recommend public parks For decades, the land where Unity Park now that would define the city. sits served as a buffer between the predominantly Kelsey’s 1907 report, “Beautifying and Improving whites-only downtown area and the more diverse Greenville, South Carolina,” is likely an unfamiliar neighborhoods like Southernside. document to most Greenville residents of today, but In 1924, the city purchased about 15 acres on Mayberry it has served as perhaps the most vital blueprint for Street for $15,000 (about $200,000 in today’s dollars) to what the city has become. build a park for the Black children who couldn’t play in the city’s whites-only parks. Mayberry Park opened in WHO’S HARLAN KELSEY? 1925. An athletic field and bleachers followed. Less than a decade later, police began using part of Largely forgotten today, Kelsey was a landscape the park as a shooting range, the officers firing their architect, urban planner and horticulturalist. In guns beside the area where children played. addition to laying out the blueprint for Greenville’s A few years later, in 1938, the city gave half the three major parks, he helped establish the park to a Baltimore businessman who promised to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, worked to build Meadowbrook Park, a baseball field for a minor preserve the Everglades in Florida and the White league team. Another large chunk of the park would Mountains in New Hampshire, and was vital in the be used for stadium parking. Nothing suggests any early years of Yellowstone National Park. thought was given to how these decisions would In his report, Kelsey outlined a series of potential affect the Black community parks in Greenville. The first park would become But the community fought back. Cleveland Park about 20 years after the release of his report. The second park would become Falls Park nearly 100 years later. And the third and final park would be situated along the Reedy River, which Kelsey had called, “Hudson Athletic Fields.” Today, it goes by a different name: Unity Park.
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TAKING A STAND They were taking a great risk, those Black Greenville residents who showed up to the City Council meeting one evening in 1939, an era when Black residents
were rarely seen at city hall. And yet, Rev. E.B. Holloway went, standing before an all-white City Council to demand a new park in response to the city’s takeover of Mayberry Park. Having watched as their children’s play area was stripped away from them, they decided to directly protest the mayor, seeking a new park for their children They were not given a warm welcome. And their demands? Ignored. Not only did the mayor gaslight Holloway and his neighbors by telling them their land wasn’t being taken — the mayor chastised them, telling them they were lucky a new ballpark was going in nearby. Never mind the fact that the new stadium would forbid Blacks from sitting in the bleachers. The plans for Meadowbrook Park went ahead, and the community members made do with a smaller Mayberry Park. Athletes from Sterling High School practiced in the field there. The community built a center to hold dances and events. The small park continued to be a place of togetherness in the community even longer than Meadowbrook Park, which burned down in 1972. But as the decades went by, the land began to stagnate, becoming more dumping ground than playground. A landfill overtook acres of the site, while a stockade, a public garbage incinerator, and a parking area for garbage trucks filled the remainder of the space. Floods often overtook the trash-strewn mud, cascading plastic and debris like shells overs a muddy beach. As the 20th century came to a close, the city turned back to those early plans for a true community park in the area.
REBIRTH When Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail was paved through that land in 2010, hundreds of thousands of community members rediscovered a part of town that had been long neglected. With community hubs like AJ Whittenburg Elementary School and the Kroc Center, along with nearby businesses, the area was re-establishing itself. Now, the full realization of those old plans to build a true community park are nearing completion, making good on a promise more than a century in the making.
The Park
IN PICTURES 1
It’s taken years of vision-casting, countless hours of planning, tens of millions of dollars in both private and public funding and 22 months of construction to deliver Unity Park to the people of Greenville. An army of workers have razed buildings, poured concrete, assembled playgrounds, set bridges in place; artists have contributed landmarks and statues. Here’s a view of the work as it unfolded.
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1-3. Unity Park Construction. 4. Auro Bridge. 5. Spinks Family Bridge installation near Commons. 6. City Council member Lillian Brock Flemming (left) and longtime Southernside community leader Mary Duckett near the newly-installed Spinks Family Bridge.
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MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK
Unity Park’s donors
Hughes Agency has raised $14 million in private funding for all phases of Unity Park from corporations, foundations and individuals in Greenville. The unprecedented support for this public-private partnership reflects the Greenville community’s commitment to open, inclusive green spaces, the environment, and the myriad ways Unity Park stitches back together the surrounding neighborhood while preserving its past and looking forward to a greater tomorrow. REEDY RIVER WETLANDS PRESERVE BY BMW
PLAYGROUNDS AND SPLASH PADS
• Duke Energy Foundation — Outdoor Classroom
• Greenville Water — Greenville Water Splash Pad
GREEN SPACES AND PLAZAS • Michelin Corporate Foundation — Michelin Green • Spero Financial — Mary F. Duckett Plaza • William Randolph Hearst Foundation — Lila Mae Brock Plaza
• TD SYNNEX Corporation & TD SYNNEX Share the Magic — TD SYNNEX Playground • Robert & Jennifer Donovan (Dom360) — Donovan Playground • Betty Farr — Betty and Judd Farr Music Garden • Wayne Trotter — Ann Watson Trotter Memorial Garden
• ScanSource — Lila Mae Brock Plaza • Verizon — Lila Mae Brock Plaza • William W. & Dr. Karen Brown — Lila Mae Brock Plaza • Fluor Corporation — Lila Mae Brock Plaza • Bank of America — Lila Mae Brock Plaza WELCOME CENTER • Prisma Health — Welcome Center BRIDGES • Auro Hotels — Auro Bridge • Spinx Corporation — Spinks Family Bridge • Johnny & Priscilla Hagins — Hagins Family Bridge TRAILS, FOOTPATHS AND GARDENS
BASKETBALL COURTS AND PLAYING FIELDS • Brown Family — Mayberry Field • Campbell Young Leaders — Legacy Early College Hope Court, Legacy Early College Love Court REEDY RIVER OVERLOOKS • Jackson & Velda Hughes Overlook • Katherine & Dirk Pieper Overlook • William Bradshaw Family Overlook • C. Dan Adams Overlook • Phil & Sara Gregory Overlook BIKE RACKS • Wilson Associates Real Estate
• The Daniel-Mickel Foundation — Path to Progress
• Milton Shockley — In Honor of Milton Shockley Sr., Bea Shockley, and Linda Shockley Sanders
• Sealevel Systems — Holloway Trail
• Bell Carrington Price & Gregg Attorneys at Law
• Ellison S. and Noel P. McKissick Foundation — Noel P. McKissick Garden
• Blackstream Real Estate
• Pacolet Milliken — Pacolet Milliken Grove • BCBS of South Carolina — Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Walking Trail
• Riverside Apartments by Woodfield Development OTHER DONORS • Community Foundation of Greenville
PICNIC SHELTERS • Coldwell Banker Caine
• Greenville Women Giving • AT&T
• SouthState Bank • First Citizens Bank
UNITY PARK 2022 |
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Prisma Health welcomes you to Unity Park We’re excited that the city of Greenville is officially opening the doors to the new 10,000-square-foot Prisma Health Welcome Center, located at the very center of Unity Park. The Prisma Health Welcome Center includes: - A self-service first aid station - A lactation room for new moms - A space for family and community gatherings, including health education programs Visitors relaxing on the outside wraparound porch will enjoy views of the Reedy River and the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit trail that runs alongside. We recognize that public parks are an important part of healthy communities, and we value our many local partners who help make South Carolina a healthier place to live. Together, we can have a positive impact on the lives of our neighbors.
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