Unity Park (New 160 Acre West End Park)

[gman430]

Site grading permit has been issued for the wetlands project. 

[gman430]

Construction has started on the wetlands project. 

Jordan Construction Company is the general contractor for the Honor Tower. AT&T, Erik Weir, and Carlton-Mercedes Benz have donated money towards it. 

Edited October 8, 2022 by gman430

[NewlyUpstate]

23 hours ago, gman430 said:

Construction has started on the wetlands project. 

Jordan Construction Company is the general contractor for the Honor Tower. AT&T, Erik Weir, and Carlton-Mercedes Benz have donated money towards it. 

Any idea how much of the $5.5M required private donations have been raised? Names only like those leads me to believe it's been less than $1M

[gman430]

10 hours ago, NewlyUpstate said:

Any idea how much of the $5.5M required private donations have been raised? Names only like those leads me to believe it's been less than $1M

I don’t have a clue how much money has been raised for the tower so far unfortunately. 

[gman]

1 hour ago, vicupstate said:

They have been repaving part of the Mall parking lot.  I hope they intend to do the whole thing. It's been needed for awhile. 

The Mall? 

[vicupstate]

1 hour ago, gman said:

The Mall? 

Sorry, wrong thread. 

[gman430]

 

 

[Galley]

Any idea when they are going to redo the baseball field?

[gman430]

Private funding goal for tower almost met. Seven figure donation for tower to be announced in early December: 

https://www.postandcourier.com/greenville/politics/planned-greenville-observation-tower-nears-5-5m-donation-goal/article_69488b8a-2a38-11ed-a719-c7ef4f782aeb.html

Edited October 30, 2022 by gman430

[vicupstate]

Most of these are in vicinity of U.P.  This was Executive session agenda of city council last night. 

[NewlyUpstate]

https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville/downtown/2022/11/21/unity-park-tower-greenville-sc-almost-fully-funded-mayor-says/69660123007/  (psst.. https://archive.ph/6B1hQ)

Quote

The city is turning its focus next to land along Mayberry Street, which borders Unity Park and promises to be lucrative. Officials plan to issue bids for development proposals for the city-owned parcels early next year, which are valued at over $20 million.

White envisions something like "beachfront property" that overlooks the park, featuring plenty of public infrastructures like broad sidewalks and tree-lined streets that people can stroll along and enjoy. At Unity Park's opening ceremony, he said proceeds from the land on Mayberry Street would be reinvested into the West Greenville community.

Found this portion the most interesting and looking forward to see what comes from it.

[vicupstate]

City will be swapping properties on Hudson Street with a privately owned land on Meadow Street. 

[NewlyUpstate]

City of Greenville is live on Facebook currently... special announcement regarding Unity Tower (Mayor White, others, speaking)

 

Edit: the tower will be called the Thomas and Vivian A. Wong Honor Tower ($1 million donation), according to the article below, only $3mil of the $5.5mil in private donations has been secured so far

 https://greenvillejournal.com/community/1m-donation-from-thomas-and-vivian-wong-for-unity-park-honor-tower-greenville-sc/

Edited December 1, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[gman430]

That Greenville Journal article is wrong. With this donation, all of the $5.5 million in private donations has been raised according to city council and Hughes Agency. In fact, more than the needed $5.5 million has been raised. Construction is slated to start in Spring 2023.

Edited December 1, 2022 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

1 minute ago, gman430 said:

That Greenville Journal article is wrong. With this donation, all of the $5.5 million in private donations has been raised. 

No trying to beat a dead horse, but I still think they would be better served to let this money accrue a bit more until they can afford to do the tower the right way.  This seems like a classic case of shortsightedly throwing something up to get it done without really thinking through the particulars.

[GvilleSC]

11 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

No trying to beat a dead horse, but I still think they would be better served to let this money accrue a bit more until they can afford to do the tower the right way.  This seems like a classic case of shortsightedly throwing something up to get it done without really thinking through the particulars.

Can you explain what you view as being "the right way"? Is it materials, simply the height, maybe the end user experience? 

[GVLover]

28 minutes ago, GvilleSC said:

Can you explain what you view as being "the right way"? Is it materials, simply the height, maybe the end user experience? 

In my view, it looks cheap and not something we’d keep up for 50 or 100 years. 

[NewlyUpstate]

1 hour ago, gman430 said:

That Greenville Journal article is wrong. With this donation, all of the $5.5 million in private donations has been raised according to city council and Hughes Agency. In fact, more than the needed $5.5 million has been raised. Construction is slated to start in Spring 2023.

Thank you for the correction - based off past comments by council and the mayor, I had a feeling the article was incorrect

[gman]

1 hour ago, distortedlogic said:

No trying to beat a dead horse, but I still think they would be better served to let this money accrue a bit more until they can afford to do the tower the right way.  This seems like a classic case of shortsightedly throwing something up to get it done without really thinking through the particulars.

This tower is spectacular. I am proud of what the city has accomplished with Unity Park and now with Unity Tower. We live in a special community. 

[gman430]

3 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

Can you explain what you view as being "the right way"? Is it materials, simply the height, maybe the end user experience? 

Personally, I would have liked to see a taller structure. Something around twice the height (250 feet or so) would have been awesome but at the same time I realize it’s water under the bridge now so I support it in its current form and will definitely visit once it opens. 

[distortedlogic]

22 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

Can you explain what you view as being "the right way"? Is it materials, simply the height, maybe the end user experience? 

I've been through that before but sort of a combination of those really. I'd like a bit more height, but not because I just want to be able to brag about a tall tower. In my opinion, the current height (the observation deck looks to be about 110 or 115 feet) simply won't be tall enough for the "tower" to serve it's stated purpose of providing a view of DT and the mountains. It is in a low place by the river and many nearby trees could be taller than that eventually.  I would think it would need to be closer to 200 ft to really do what they want it to do. The design is just ok, but not anything to write home about, so that could be better as well.

[GvilleSC]

20 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

I've been through that before but sort of a combination of those really. I'd like a bit more height, but not because I just want to be able to brag about a tall tower. In my opinion, the current height (the observation deck looks to be about 110 or 115 feet) simply won't be tall enough for the "tower" to serve it's stated purpose of providing a view of DT and the mountains. It is in a low place by the river and many nearby trees could be taller than that eventually.  I would think it would need to be closer to 200 ft to really do what they want it to do. The design is just ok, but not anything to write home about, so that could be better as well.

I appreciate you taking the time to put words to it. 

[gman430]

Does begs the question though. Why is the city in such a rush to build this? Why not wait until inflation drops so they can get more bang for their buck? Am I missing something? 

Edited December 3, 2022 by gman430

[NewlyUpstate]

24 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Does begs the question though. Why is the city in such a rush to build this? Why not wait until inflation drops so they can get more bang for their buck? Am I missing something? 

Inflation will never just "drop". Prices will only rise, it's only how fast they will.

They are rushing to complete this, because in the world of city building/development, the longer you wait, the lesser the probability of completing the project. The design is already complete, contractors are selected.. at this stage it's just about allocating funding and if you're unable to complete that step it's a major risk to the project.

The city is getting ready to sell all the property on that side of the park to developers next year and the tower should increase the value of those properties.

Edited December 3, 2022 by NewlyUpstate

[gman]

4 hours ago, gman430 said:

Does begs the question though. Why is the city in such a rush to build this? Why not wait until inflation drops so they can get more bang for their buck? Am I missing something? 

A rush? Hasn't this been in the works for many months, if not a couple of years? There is no rush. The plans were made and the money has been raised. Moving forward with the right plans is what needs to happen. You are only of less than a handful of people that is not happy. Besides, building costs will never drop, no matter what happens with inflation. I should add, I was told by a builder this past week that many building supplies have come down in cost or have leveled out. Now is the time. Let's make it happen. It is only going to cost more if we wait.