Greenville opens Unity Park, fulfilling 83-year-old promise

College students who feel bad about procrastinating may be comforted to know that the city of Greenville waited over 80 years to open Unity Park. Following years of delays, the park opened in May 2022. Located four miles from Bob Jones University, Unity Park offers visitors 2.5 miles of hiking trails and a walking bridge across the Reedy River. The new park also offers access to the popular 23-mile Swamp Rabbit Trail for walking and biking. It also has a 4,000-square-foot water splash pad and four playgrounds. The city also plans to build an observation tower the 60-acre park was under construction for 22 months and cost the city $66 million so far, in addition to $10 million from private donations.

Fulfilling an 83-yearold promise

One hundred years ago, Greenville did not allow Black children to use city parks. In the mid-1920s the city built a park for Black children on 15 marshy acres beside the Reedy River called Mayberry Park. The park included an athletic field with bleachers and a basic playground.

In the 1930s the city used half of Mayberry Park to build a stadium for an allwhite baseball team. Black people were not allowed to sit in the stands at the new stadium. Rev. E.B. Hol-

Greenville City Council promised Holloway a park, but the promise faded from the city’s priority list.

Mayberry and Meadowbrook Parks desegregated in the mid-1960s, according to longtime Greenville resident Mary Duckett. Meadowbrook Park burned down in 1972, but Mayberry Park continued to be a popular spot, especially among the local African American community, despite its limited amenities.

“Today we redeem a promise of 80 years,” Mayor Knox White said on May 19 at the opening ceremony for Unity Park, which includes the areas where both the all-Black Mayberry Park and all-white Meadowbrook Park once stood.

Rev. Byron Battle Sr., se- ceremony. "What a beautiful picture this is. I'm convinced this is what heaven is going to look like when we all come together.”

Community investment

Some critics worried the park would contribute to gentrification, which occurs when individuals from higher social classes move into a community and displace the original residents who cannot afford the higher property costs.

White has acknowledged gentrification as a legitimate concern and took steps to minimize any negative impact on lower-income residents. In 2018 he said, “We’re more aware now that ‘OK, we build this park, it’s going to gentrify.’”

At Unity Park’s opening by University Housing on July 19 described this relocation as “an opportunity for limited number of University Place residents,” which Hammett said mislead her. Upper classmen who chose to continue living in university housing were placed in alternative living options within 45-minute drive to campus. Those traditional housing options are: Th Gardens on Quail Creek Village Avenue across from Brooks Stadium, and University Place (UP), which is located behind Circle K off of S.C. 544. Th university has contracted with two non-traditional housing options. These new housing options include Th Pier, an apartment complex across from campus on S.C. 544, and the Four Points by Sheraton, Myrtle Beach hotel. Th hotel is located eight miles away from campus right between the Intracoastal Waterway and Fantasy Harbour Boulevard, next to Th Boathouse. A designated shuttle runs daily to and from the hotel every 20 to 25 minutes from a.m. to 4 p.m. and every 40 to 45 minutes from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The city plans to build five affordable housing areas close to the park and created the Unity Park Character Code in 2020, which it hopes will spur more housing efforts, beginning with housing for seniors.

Like Falls Park on the Reedy, which opened in 2004, Unity Park centers around the Reedy River, which flows through downtown Greenville. To build the park, the city restored a half-mile section of the Reedy River that flows through the park, and the city plans to restore a wetlands area where the Reedy River originally ran until 1933 when it was redirected.

Unity Park is open 5 a.m.-11 p.m. every day.

Daley said the Four Points location was chosen solely because the hotel had larger quantity of beds than any other hotel closer to campus. Th rst building of Th Pier was also chosen for upper classmen because of the available rooms and because it is two miles away from campus. Coastal has 80 beds reserved at The

Pier. Daley said there are 98 beds at Four Points set aside for students, but not all are in use. Students who stay at the hotel are living among other hotel guests.

Daley said the amenities at the hotel and Th Pier are not the same as living in normal university housing, but they do offer pool, gym and study area in each location. The Pier has the added benefi of being within walking distance of campus, and the hotel has weekly housekeeping service. Some other benefits for students living at Four Points are a daily continental breakfast, 40% off food from the pantry (similar to POD markets) and Th Brine Bar, the restaurant located inside the hotel.

Hammett said she was supposed to have a roommate, but before they could meet, she was relocated. She said she plans to get her own apartment in the spring, therefore she has not attempted to decorate the hotel room. She said she not sure if students are allowed to decorate their spaces.

“It’s kind of lonely, like it defeated the purpose,” Hammett said.

She prefers to continue to ride the shuttle to save money on gas for her personal car, regardless of the wait time.

Hammett said she found out as late as August where she was assigned to live.

University President Michael Benson said university administrators could tell the enrollment trends were rising as they kept an eye on the reports every Friday. He said administrators expected “summer melt” when students are accepted to Coastal but do not pay deposit, which usually makes the acceptance numbers go down. However, the melt did not occur this year.

“This is good problem to have because it suggests that the university is growing and that we’re known commodity,” Benson said. Daley said the high enrollment is great for the university and also great for students as they gain more resources and opportunities that come with a bigger university.

Benson said he attempted to incentivize sophomores to live off campus to make room for freshmen students. Th freshmen were prioritized because Benson said the first-year experience is important for them to have. He said he cannot predict a change in the policy which requires freshmen and sophomores to live on campus.

Benson said he feels bad for students who live in the hotel because they are so far away, and he hopes they do not feel completely isolated.

“I try and put myself in the position of our students,” Benson said. “As a father of a current college student, know what it’s like to feel little unsettled as parent and a student.”

To ensure the students are safe, there are resident advisers living at the hotel. Benson said the university has been working with the Horry County and Conway police departments to do checkups at Four Points and drive around the premises to let students know they’re available.

According to Daley, security officer is sent each night to Four Points. Because of its proximity to campus, public safety officers ride over to The Pier and do rounds. Many parents have reached out to Benson about their concerns regarding the safety of their children due to the distance between the off-campus housing and CCU. Benson said he lived in “rough” residence halls while attending graduate school in

England. He said he understands parents’ concerns, and he is doing his best to provide the best experience for their children.

“You can’t keep everybody happy all the time. But we try our best to,” Benson said. In the future, Benson said there is possibility of renovating Th Woods, which were the first freshmen dorms opened in 1987. He said he is in the process of doing the master plan of the campus, but the wetlands pose many challenges to any additions. Th university grounds are owned by the Coastal Educational Foundation. Benson also said he wants the option of a pedestrian overpass across S.C. 544 because he worries about students who walk to school. He said he hoped everyone would be patient as the university searches for new off and on-campus housing options.

“Some of that short term discomfort results in long term satisfaction for everybody,” Benson said.