Unity Park (New 160 Acre West End Park)

[goodbye]

This is a very nice park.  I am excited by the growth potential and positive change this place is bringing to a long-overlooked area.

 

[NewlyUpstate]

https://www.greenvillesc.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/9620?fileID=53023

Looks like they ended up splitting out the funding for Honor Tower from the annual budget and it will be voted on separately tomorrow evening.  Some interesting notes on the ordinance 

Quote

WHEREAS, the construction of Unity Park is already creating a return on investment for the City, seeing Taxable Market Value for the surrounding area grow from $41.8 million in 2017 to $180.7 million in 2022, an increase of over 300% percent; and

Quote

WHEREAS, the approximately $11,000,000 tower project will be funded by approximately $5,500,000 in private funds, $3,500,000 from the Local Accommodations Tax Fund, $1,000,000 from the Hospitality Tax Fund and $1,000,000 in phase 1 savings; and

Good to see Phase 1 came in $1MM "under budget" taking into account all the inflation and supply chain issues within the last several years.

Edited May 23, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[gman430]

According to council member Russell Stall, only 27% of people who voted in a city poll support funding for the tower. 

[GvilleSC]

3 minutes ago, gman430 said:

According to council member Russell Stall, only 27% of people who voted in a city poll support funding for the tower. 

I cannot imagine that most people even know what it is. I wouldn’t trust that number. 

[NewlyUpstate]

40 minutes ago, gman430 said:

According to council member Russell Stall, only 27% of people who voted in a city poll support funding for the tower. 

This was the GVLToday poll which I referenced in an earlier post (I hope, because I definitely emailed them, but did not receive a response or see any comments in later stories).

They had a very misleading article that read in a very biased way.  They showed a picture of an older design, said it was going to be much shorter, and did not explain the source and required intent of the funding required.  Honestly, all in all, very poor media work.

GVLToday is great for things like event notifications, guides to festivals and restaurants, but they consistently fall flat on their face when they try to get involved with anything political or complex.  I love reading their newsletter daily too, but they really should stay in their lane (I hate that I said that, but in this case its the truth if they can't prove themselves competent) .

City Council voted in favor of the first reading, 5-2. I thought Mayor White gave a great speech.

Edited May 23, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[gman430]

Thanks for the info. I figured there was something off with the poll with the numbers being that skewed. Seeing how the money can’t be used for roads and whatnot, the city might as well put it towards the tower. Only Dowe and Stall voted against funding for it. I’m still not happy with the design and height but it is what it is. Hopefully it looks better and taller in person.
 

By the way, Dorothy Dowe is beyond annoying. She was the only one on city council who voted ‘no’ on the county square project also. Ever since then, she has always left a bad taste in my mouth. I think I need to go brush my teeth now. 

Edited May 23, 2022 by gman430

[goodbye]

17 hours ago, NewlyUpstate said:

This was the GVLToday poll which I referenced in an earlier post (I hope, because I definitely emailed them, but did not receive a response or see any comments in later stories).

They had a very misleading article that read in a very biased way.  They showed a picture of an older design, said it was going to be much shorter, and did not explain the source and required intent of the funding required.  Honestly, all in all, very poor media work.

GVLToday is great for things like event notifications, guides to festivals and restaurants, but they consistently fall flat on their face when they try to get involved with anything political or complex.  I love reading their newsletter daily too, but they really should stay in their lane (I hate that I said that, but in this case its the truth if they can't prove themselves competent) .

City Council voted in favor of the first reading, 5-2. I thought Mayor White gave a great speech.

I dumped gvltoday years ago because they included too much misinformation and irrelevant topics.  The idea was good, but poorly executed and lacked quality control.  Not worth wasting my time.

Here is another photo from Sunday, which shows how active the children's areas were.  An excellent addition to Greenville's recreational amenities.

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Skyliner

[PuppiesandKittens]

If the funds for the tower can’t be used for roads or something, surely no investment is better than a bad investment; why not just let the funds accumulate and earn interest until a better use comes along?

I am not a member or supporter by any measure of Dorothy Dowe’s political party but she is an intelligent, thoughtful person, which many of our local leaders cannot claim to be.  I have a lot of respect for her.

 

[gman]

I was not sure where to post this, but since the book speaks to the history of the Unity Park area too, here it goes.  Mike Chibbaro, a friend and a big supporter of Furman basketball has written another good book. If you remember, Mike also published "The Mighty Generals" and "The Cadillac." This book chronicles the memories of Meadowbrook Park from 1938 - 1972. I highly recommend the book.

http://www.thirtysevenpublishing.com https://twitter.com/chibbmic/status/1506957553305010176?s=20&t=YVnW9fb5RozXiSIX7HiiIQ

[apaladin]

13 hours ago, gman said:

I was not sure where to post this, but since the book speaks to the history of the Unity Park area too, here it goes.  Mike Chibbaro, a friend and a big supporter of Furman basketball has written another good book. If you remember, Mike also published "The Mighty Generals" and "The Cadillac." This book chronicles the memories of Meadowbrook Park from 1938 - 1972. I highly recommend the book.

http://www.thirtysevenpublishing.com https://twitter.com/chibbmic/status/1506957553305010176?s=20&t=YVnW9fb5RozXiSIX7HiiIQ

Yes, highly recommend. I grew up with Meadowbrook and remember all the future mlb hall of famers that played for and against Greenville from Rose to Ryan but many I didn’t know about thanks to Mike’s book. The exhibition games featured baseball’s best from Ted Williams to Mickey Mantle. Played little league there, was a batboy at one time and played high school, legion and semi-pro. Brought back many, many memories. Picked mind up at Drive game.

[GVLover]

[GvilleSC]

^^^That's a good move. I hope people take advantage of the trolley service. Parking remains a problem at the park, and additional offices are nearing completion in the warehouses. Soon, the competition for parking is going to hit another level. 

Edit: They're only running this route on Friday afternoons and through the weekend. I think they should really consider expanding the route to the work week through the summer. 

Edited June 2, 2022 by GvilleSC

[vicupstate]

Interview with Honor Tower architect

$2 million in private funds has already been committed. 

[GvilleSC]

12 stories, 125’ tall. 

[distortedlogic]

1 hour ago, vicupstate said:

Interview with Honor Tower architect

$2 million in private funds has already been committed. 

Well I guess it is pretty much settled. I still don't think it will serve its stated purpose at that height, especially with the observation height being at about only 110 ft.  Here is another pic/article.  What bridge is this; this looks more like the old renderings for Auro bridge?

https://greenvillejournal.com/community/greenville-city-council-notes-unity-park-tower-approved/

[GvilleSC]

6 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

Well I guess it is pretty much settled. I still don't think it will serve its stated purpose at that height, especially with the observation height being at about only 110 ft.  Here is another pic/article.  What bridge is this; this looks more like the old renderings for Auro bridge?

https://greenvillejournal.com/community/greenville-city-council-notes-unity-park-tower-approved/

^^^That rendering is clearly old and much shorter than the one they've apparently settled on.  Focusing on it will only lead to high blood pressure. 

Edited June 2, 2022 by GvilleSC

[distortedlogic]

2 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

^^^That rendering is clearly old and much shorter than the one they've apparently settled on.  Focusing on it will only lead to high blood pressure. 

Well how confusing... the article is from one week ago, why didn't they bother to put the correct rendering?

[gman]

Isn’t that rendering the same as the most recent one on the Unity Park website? https://www.greenvillesc.gov/1868/The-Observation-Tower

[GvilleSC]

2 hours ago, gman said:

Isn’t that rendering the same as the most recent one on the Unity Park website? https://www.greenvillesc.gov/1868/The-Observation-Tower

Similar, but definitely shorter. Count the number of the times the stairs wrap around the core. 

[NewlyUpstate]

Was at the park this morning - the city added a bunch of oversized umbrellas to the play areas for shade. According to their Facebook, there's also apparently permanent shade structures on order that will also be installed soon.

[distortedlogic]

Went today with the kids. It is going to be a very nice park, no doubt. We were a bit disappointed however, as the splash pad was "closed for maintenance " and the big playground was shut down with red "danger" tape. The visitor center was also closed. I'm going to chalk it up to them having to iron out early kinks, but it's not a good look to have this magnitude of an attraction, with that kind of money spent, having multiple major pieces down after only two weeks.

I'm sure they'll have them back up soon but I hope the city is completely dedicated to keeping this park in top shape. People are going to be very disappointed and even upset if this were to become one of those places that cannot be maintained properly; kinda like how the children's museum has had multiple exhibits broken or closed at a time for long periods,  or where we see signature parks in other cities fall into disrepair and decline. 

If they can keep it maintained  it should be fantastic. 

[NewlyUpstate]

8 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

Went today with the kids. It is going to be a very nice park, no doubt. We were a bit disappointed however, as the splash pad was "closed for maintenance " and the big playground was shut down with red "danger" tape. The visitor center was also closed. I'm going to chalk it up to them having to iron out early kinks, but it's not a good look to have this magnitude of an attraction, with that kind of money spent, having multiple major pieces down after only two weeks.

I'm sure they'll have them back up soon but I hope the city is completely dedicated to keeping this park in top shape. People are going to be very disappointed and even upset if this were to become one of those places that cannot be maintained properly; kinda like how the children's museum has had multiple exhibits broken or closed at a time for long periods,  or where we see signature parks in other cities fall into disrepair and decline. 

If they can keep it maintained  it should be fantastic. 

They announced that they were going to be doing maintenance on the play area and that large portions would be closed yesterday (Monday)

[GvilleSC]

Utility crews are back out working on the above ground lines today. Based on the work that has been observed in the past, I imagine the current actions are the first steps in actually dismantling the existing lines. 

[vicupstate]

Someone on this thread mentioned the Riverplace fountain being in need of maintenance.   City council will take up appropriating money to do just that on Monday.

 

Appropriation for Riverplace fountain and splashpad 

[NewlyUpstate]

1 hour ago, vicupstate said:

Someone on this thread mentioned the Riverplace fountain being in need of maintenance.   City council will take up appropriating money to do just that on Monday.

 

Appropriation for Riverplace fountain and splashpad 

By the quote, looks like they are actually basically rebuilding it entirely, including lights and speakers for water shows. Worthwhile with location, visibility and usage IMO

Edited June 10, 2022 by NewlyUpstate