opinion

Mayor White: Greenville's new park can be for everyone

The pride we all feel in Downtown Greenville is the result of decades of good planning and great partnerships. That's why the decision of City Council to proceed with planning for a new park along the Reedy River is so important. It marks the next chapter in our creation of a city that values people, green space and balanced growth.

In 2001, three years before the opening of Falls Park, the city and county, in partnership with Clemson University, adopted a visionary master plan for the Reedy River, especially along its neglected and underdeveloped stretches in West Greenville. The report made two key recommendations: build an extensive walking and cycling trail along the river and create a new park in the flood plain on the west side of Academy Street.

In less than 10 years, the Swamp Rabbit Trail has been realized. The proposed park site, through which the trail runs, is still a collection of mostly abandoned warehouses, a flood-prone city public works facility and overgrown lots. But the trail itself has introduced thousands of people to the natural beauty of the river corridor, just waiting to be cleared of its industrial remnants and reclaimed for green space and recreation.

Taking the concepts and dreams of the past decade and turning them into a final plan for a great new city park is our critical next step. The new park would encompass the largest amount of public land assembled in the city since the creation of Cleveland Park. That park, set also in a flood plain, was first proposed in 1907 as part of a master plan for improving Greenville. It envisioned a "park of extraordinary beauty" that would be for "the benefit of the people, and should pay the greatest possible returns in health, happiness and recreational values."

Today it is hard to imagine our city without this green belt running through neighborhoods, alive with recreation and family activities. The same can happen on our west side for its neighborhoods. It, too, can be a place that is the pride of the community, known as "Southernside." But this vision is threatened by rapid unplanned development that is already under way in anticipation of a park. That is why City Council member Lillian Brock Flemming and Southernside leaders know that it is urgent to develop a thoughtful master plan that guides the right kind of office and residential uses on its edges and, above all, maximizes open green space.

A future park will also serve as a regional attraction much like the Swamp Rabbit Trail. There is room in its 80-plus acres for walking trails, recreational fields, community gardens, public art, playgrounds, a wetlands for exploration, river vistas and even an outdoor amphitheater. The inclusion of many of these amenities will depend on corporate and private donations. The Greenville Community Foundation and other private groups have offered to help. That's the tradition of partnership that makes Greenville the city we love — and that's what will make this park even better than we can imagine.

Finally, a park along the river addresses another need: We must soften the edges of our city's rapid growth. More people and yes, more traffic, present real challenges to our quality of life. One way to respond to this challenge is to emulate our forefathers who proposed Cleveland Park in another era of growth.

The 1907 Master Plan recognized that "the Reedy River ... constitutes the most distinctive feature in the topography and landscape of Greenville. It is without a doubt the most important single feature to be considered in the development and beautifying of the city."

In 1967 Harriett Wyche, president of the Carolina Foothills Garden Club, envisioned Falls Park as an "oasis in the heart of the city." Now is the time to move "up the river" and expand our "oasis" for the benefit of future generations.

Knox White is the mayor of the city of Greenville. He is a native of Greenville and has served as mayor since December 1995.