Catawba Park up for decision soon

Tega Cay City Council should have a Catawba Park design proposal to vote on in January.

Campco Engineering presented its latest rendition Dec. 21 for the park along the Catawba River, below New Gray Rock Road. The city owns almost 10 acres, and talks are ongoing with Duke Energy and Clear Springs Baxter for a combined 52 more. The site already has a boat ramp and fishing areas.

The city plans to add much more.

“We have a very unique piece of property there, only in Tega Cay,” said Councilman Chris Landvik-Larsen. “You’re connecting our city all the way from point A to point B.”

The new park likely will include baseball/softball fields, multipurpose fields, a basketball circle, amphitheater, par 3 disc golf course, a community shelter, picnic shelters, a canoe/kayak launch, horseshoe courts, playgrounds and restrooms. A 1.4-mile outer trail with inner loop connections could connect to Baxter, Lake Ridge and the Carolina Thread Trail.

“You have tremendous river views,” said Al Walters, senior planner with Campco. “The site is predominantly wooded, and you have very little undergrowth.”

The park would have two entrances in addition to one already there for the boat ramp. It includes 400 parking spaces. Full design work could take three to six months.

“It depends on whether we do a portion or the whole park,” said Mike Fry, Campco owner.

It could be fall before final agreements are in place with the surrounding property owners. The multipurpose fields would go on Clear Springs property. The Duke property would include trails and river access. The baseball/softball complex would go on city-owned property.

Councilwoman Dottie Hersey wondered how far into the design phase the city should venture until agreements are signed.

“Obviously we’re all anxious to get going,” she said, “but a part of me is still concerned until I know we have a firm plan.”

City Manager Charlie Funderburk said a design approval in January for the city property would help start a grading plan and road cuts that wouldn’t change depending on agreements with other property owners. That move could bring the park sooner.

“Those are time consuming components,” Funderburk said.

Funderburk said he feels “pretty good this is going to work” with the full park plan. The city has more than $900,000 already set aside for the park.

The Council making decisions on Catawba Park will look different than it did in December. Council members Landvik-Larsen and Ron Kirby, who lost reelection bids last fall, will be replaced by new Councilmen David O’Neal and Ryan Richard. Both outgoing members expressed support for the park, which Landvik-Larsen sees not only as a connection for different parts of Tega Cay, but a place where the entire city can gather for a large event.

He said he sees something along the lines of the S.C. Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill, as a possibility in Tega Cay.

“We could have our own (spring festival),” he said.

Another main use of the park will be recreation. Plans are for three baseball/softball fields. As many artificial surface multipurpose fields will be created for soccer and other sports, while the baseball/softball outfields could be used for more space if a large tournament comes to the city.

For the fall sport season in 2007, Tega Cay had 591 recreation participants. This past spring, there were 1,550.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Catawba Park up for decision soon."