OPINION: Run a zipline off that 10-story tower planned for new Unity Park in Greenville
The new city park promises to be a great thing, the writer of this column says.
OPINION: Run a zipline off that 10-story tower planned for new Unity Park in Greenville The new city park promises to be a great thing, the writer of this column says. Check out this story on independentmail.com: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/opinion/2018/05/25/run-zipline-off-10-story-tower-new-greenville-unity-park/638901002/
Ron Barnett, rbarnett@greenvillenews.com Published 6:14 a.m. ET May 25, 2018 | Updated 10:58 a.m. ET May 25, 2018
The new signature city park west of downtown, to be named Unity Park, will be marked by a 10-story observation tower.(Photo: Provided by MKSK Landscape Architects)
So, the city finally took my advice and decided to do something with that wasteland over on the other side of Academy Street.
Actually, my suggestion, back when they were trying to figure out what to do about the zoo because it was landlocked and needed more room, was that they move the zoo over there, and make it one of those zoos without cages.
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I still think that would have been good, but I'm pretty pleased with Greenville's new Unity Park plan: a $40 million overhaul of that whole area, paid for mostly by tourists, through hospitality taxes, and private donations.
And that tower! I wasn't expecting that.
The 10-story observation tower that will be the centerpiece of Unity Park. (Photo: Provided by MKSK Landscape Architects)
That's a great idea, although I'm still not real sure how much I like the design of it. It looks like a very skinny butte to me, from the renderings I've seen. Kind of weird.
More: 10 images that give a first look at Greenville's big plans for Unity Park
A tower can become the symbol of a city – like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Seattle's Space Needle. I'm not sure this one's shape is that distinctive. But I don't know of another one like it, so I'm sure it will attract a lot of attention.
I'll probably climb those 10 flights of steps one time, just so I can say I did it. It will have an elevator, too.
Somewhere in this area is where the city plans to build a 10-story tower as a centerpiece for the new Unity Park. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
You know how you get crazy ideas sometimes when you're drifting off to sleep at night? It occurred to me that a sliding board off the top of that thing would be pretty cool. And/or a zipline. You could run one of those all the way to Falls Park. Or, Mayor Knox White could glide all the way to City Hall from the top of the tower, with his tie flapping in the breeze. That would be fun.
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But seriously, clearing out all the ugly old buildings and dilapidated paved areas that have defined that area for so long will be great. This could be as big a boost as Falls Park was in making Greenville the cool place to go visit.
This is where the city's Public Works Department was housed until it relocated in anticipation of turning the site into part of the new Unity Park. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
But I was curious about what folks in the community thought about the whole thing. So I parked down at Mayberry Park, which is pretty much the only thing remaining from when this area used to be a recreational district, decades ago. I hopped on my bicycle and set out to explore the area and see who I could find to talk with about it.
Once I got around to the other side of Mayberry Park, I caught sight of John Willie Billups. He was sitting at a picnic table, with a great big Bible opened up in front of him, reading from the book of Jeremiah.
John Willie Billups, seated at a picnic table outside Mayberry Park, talks about the value of the city's plans to renovate the area into a new park. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
John Willie lives over in Judson now, but he grew up right across from here and used to play baseball and football at Mayberry Park. I asked him what he thought about the city's plans.
"I think the city is doing a wonderful thing," he said.
"It's something that we've been dreaming about for many, many years. I guess nobody ever thought about it until now."
He remembered going to carnivals along there in his childhood and hearing live bands. He'd be happy to see the area come back to life, beyond just the steady stream of traffic along the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
"It'll be good for everyone – those that live around here, those that are visiting, those that are passing through. I think we all can live together in harmony and enjoy life, enjoy what God give us."
Sounds like the name, Unity Park, fits.
Then I headed over to the neighborhood on the western border of the future park and came across brothers Larry and James Mason, sitting on Larry's front porch on Leach Street.
Larry Mason talks about the Unity Park plan outside his home on Leach Street. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
Larry liked the idea of a big playground for the kids.
"There's starting to be a lot more kids around, and they need somewhere to play," he said. "I feel like it'll be good for the neighborhood."
A destination play area in Unity Park. (Photo: Provided by MKSK Landscape Architects)
Part of the city's plan is to use some of the land it owns around the park to build affordable housing. That's something people in this neighborhood see a keen need for. The city's growth in this direction has been gentrifying the area, displacing residents, raising property values and rents.
The Mason brothers hope the city will do that, but they're skeptical.
"It would be real nice. They ain't gonna do it, though," James said.
Later, he revised that: "I'm like this: Time will tell. Time will tell. I can't do nothing but wait and see."
James Mason talks about the Unity Park plan outside his brother's home on Leach Street. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
Around the corner on Gower Street, right across from where I go to church, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, Harold Richardson was out washing his shiny red Dodge Ram pickup.
Like John Willie, he also has fond memories of the days when Mayberry Park had lots going on. He remembers chasing foul balls outside Meadowbrook Park, which during segregation was a baseball stadium for whites and hosted off-season games involving major league stars like the Micky Mantle and Yogi Berra.
He's afraid that much of the city's growth is "killing the history" of the community. But he said most of that is already gone down in the area that will become Unity Park.
Harold Richardson talks about the Unity Park plan outside his home on Gower Street. (Photo: Ron Barnett)
"I don't even go that way now. Ain't nothing down there now," he said.
He's also very concerned about gentrification.
Then I asked him what he thought about that 10-story tower. He turned away and laughed.
"Boy, I'm going to tell you. Things getting wild. It is," he said. "If you leave here from Greenville and come back you'll never know this place."
You won't know that area over across Academy Street, for sure. But that will be very much a change for the better.
More columns by Ron Barnett:
Former Greenville News sports editor Bart Wright, wife weathering volcano's wrath in Hawaii home
Parents' graves relocated after family not allowed access
Contact Ron Barnett at rbarnett@greenvillenews.com.
Ron Barnett (Photo: Josh Morgan)
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