By Mayor Knox White
If you have visited Unity Park since its opening two weeks ago, then you know the pure joy it is bringing to children, their parents and our entire community.
Where there was once a row of hulking warehouses there is now a splash pad and world-class playgrounds filled with the laughter of a thousand children.
Where children on their way to school once crossed a polluted and foul-smelling Reedy River by balancing on exposed sewage pipes there are now three pedestrian bridges, including the majestic Auro Bridge.
Where the city’s fleet of vehicles once sat frequently under floodwaters, there is now a sea of wildflowers and overlooks along the banks of a restored and revitalized Reedy River that’s already mitigating flooding downstream.
Where it was once difficult to imagine how these 60 acres could be transformed into a park for our entire community to enjoy, it’s now nearly impossible to picture just how bad this area once was.
And we’re only getting started.
Soon an iconic tower located precisely between what once were two segregated parks will shine a beacon of light designating the historic Southernside neighborhood – once a largely unseen and often forgotten part of the community. That tower and surrounding public plaza will provide, at long last, an appropriate, dignified gathering place for public ceremonies to honor our first responders and veterans.
To pay for the park, the city is using $2 million of its $15 million annual hospitality tax revenue, which only can be used on tourism projects and not on initiatives like affordable housing and infrastructure. However, the return on that investment for generations in the form of property taxes and business license revenue carry no such restrictions and can be used on vital issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, neighborhood parks, traffic and public safety.
The $66 million investment for Unity Park by the City of Greenville and private donors is already reaping astounding dividends in the form of higher tax revenue – an additional $557,000 annually in city property taxes in the park district to pay for maintenance and more. That will climb much higher with the future development on city-owned land along Mayberry Street, which has soared in value from $1 million a decade ago to $21.1 million.
As for the tower and public plaza – to be paid almost entirely with private donations and a one-time allotment of the hotel tax paid by out-of-town visitors – it has been an exciting part of the park’s plan since the late Tom Keith proposed it in 2005. Hundreds of residents participated in years of community planning meetings. The tower’s world-class designer, Paul Endres, has been working with the city for five years on a plan for the tower.
A plan developed with community involvement. A plan presented to the private partners who helped make the park happen. A plan promised to the neighborhood.
The tower and Unity Park will take its place among many other celebrated Greenville projects, including the Liberty Bridge and Fluor Field that faced similar opposition from a small vocal group in their day.
I believe that 100 years from now our community will regard Unity Park and the Honor Tower and Plaza as one of the greatest achievements in our city’s history.
