Here’s what that land clearing beside a Fort Mill park, and behind its gym, is about
With a major new recreation site ready for play, Fort Mill turns its attention to two more additions.
Several years back the town bought three properties, each with a house on it, adjacent to Dobys Bridge Park for future expansion. In recent weeks two of those homes were razed.
“These changes have caused quite a buzz,” said Town Manager Davy Broom.
The town bought the properties for possible parking or other park uses. The home site nearest to the park has become office and storage space for town staff.
“We still use it on a daily basis,” Broom said.
The recently demolished homes, between the still used home and Glenrock Baptist Church along North Dobys Bridge Road, have been used for fire department training but largely sat dormant for a couple of years.
Clearning this week or next will mean trees and bushes will be removed from the site. The town will grow grass on the site as officials figure out how to use the property, a few acres along North Dobys. The site will be part of a larger facility study.
“At this point there’s no specific or designated use for those two properties,” Broom said.
Clearing now will help, Broom said, later.
“It gives us flexibility to kind of move forward quickly,” he said.
Mayor Guynn Savage said credit goes to Councilwoman Lisa Cook who spotted the two homes beside the park for sale after the town had purchased a home near the park entrance. Waiting until now to buy the homes, even if they were still available, would mean paying perhaps several times what the town did several years ago.
“That’s the kind of future thinking that I hope everyone appreciates,” Savage said. “That when we see something, that we know we will have a use for.”
More land movement this week or next comes behind the Fort Mill YMCA at the Complex. For several years town officials have discussed repairs needed to the six full and one half tennis courts there.
“Now that we have pretty much finished up the Banks Athletic Park, this is the project that’s ongoing that we’re dedicating a lot of attention to,” Broom said.
Four lower courts will be replaced. The half court and hitting wall will be replaced with two full courts. Two upper courts there now will be converted to eight pickleball courts.
“The goal is to have the tennis courts and the pickleball courts installed by end of year 2022,” Broom said. “Now that’s very aggressive. We’re racing against time and weather.”
The project also includes a new restroom facility with office and storage space for tennis programming. Courts will have new fencing and lighting. With the restroom facility, overall project completion should come around May of next year.
“The restroom facility will really help with the programs that are run out there,” Savage said.
Several town council members say they’ve had people stop them at church to ask about pickleball courts.
“We do get calls in regards to pickleball courts,” Savage said. “I’ve seen a number of them on social media as well.”
In addition to tennis and pickleball, the parking lot there sits just beside a trail entrance to the Anne Springs Close Greenway. Greenway members often park there to walk, run or ride trails.
Councilman Allen Garrison said he talks to people when he runs trails on Sunday mornings in that area. Garrison said it’s common to see 20 to 30 people using the tennis courts.
“The reception every time is just, people are ecstatic about that,” Garrison said of his conversations. “I didn’t realize how big of a deal that was.”
