Greenwood Parks and Rec seeks to expand facilities
More recreation could mean more people and business for Greenwood County, said Tripp May, director of Greenwood County Parks and Recreation.
Officials hope to put that proposition to the test, with a number of area parks and athletic facilities potentially seeing funding from the penny tax that goes before voters in two months.
“This is just a great opportunity to enhance what we have. These opportunities don’t come along all the time,” May said. “It would be a good shot in the arm for Greenwood and all of our programs and it gives us the ability to expand and grow.”
Should voters approve the additional 1-percent sales tax initiative for capital projects on November’s ballot, about $10.7 million would go to expanding and renovating county athletic facilities during an eight-year span.
The projects to receive funding include the construction of a 34,000-square-foot, three-gym athletic facility and three multipurpose fields at the former site of the Greenwood Civic Center. The funds would also pay to install lighting and fencing in 14 ball parks across the county.
The proposals will help meet the needs of Greenwood’s growing population, according to May.
The size of each sport in the department’s youth programs have grown by about 10 percent each year during the past five years, he said.
“We currently only have one gym in our recreation department at Brewer right now and we try and run all of our programs through there,” May said. “Our programs are doing really well. Everything is really increasing and with our numbers increasing we need to upgrade facilities.
The fields and facilities will be used to host a number of events, he said, including sports tournaments where teams from around the state will compete.
“Greenwood, we’re in the middle of the hub and we can draw from the Greenvilles and the Columbias and have them meet here at a halfway point for different events and tournaments,” May said. “I think we’re in a great location with the surrounding counties to bring in a lot more tournaments.”
Contact Conor Hughes at 703-517-4171 or follow on Twitter @IJConorHughes.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on: Sep 6, 2016
By CONOR HUGHES chughes@indexjournal.com