HILTON HEAD ISLAND — City officials dream of water points, vegetable gardens and lots of green spaces.
They’re not sure about a tower, though. This could violate one of the original principles of island development: no structures above the tree canopy.
Plans for a 103-acre multi-use park in the middle of the island are still at the idea stage. The council is studying a proposal submitted by the firm MKSK Studios, presented at a meeting on May 24th.
The city council must also agree on a project budget, up to around $1 million per acre for a first-class park like the one they’re looking for, said MKSK Studios director Brian Kinzelman.
But he expects his company’s proposal to be less popular because much of the site will not be intensively developed.
The city council allocated $1.7 million for the park in the 2021-22 fiscal year budget. An additional $4 million for the park has been included in the 2022-23 spending plan.
The first look at last week’s proposed park was a long time coming.
The city purchased the land, part of the former Planters Row golf course, in 2013 from Heritage Golf Port Royal LLC. For nearly a decade, local residents walked their dogs or cycled around the old fairways and ponds.
City officials had long intended to invest in the area as a community space, but first focused their attention and money on other projects, including a comparable mixed-use park near the Coligny Plaza beach. Lowcountry Celebration Park opened in 2020 and cost around $14 million for 10 acres.
The proposed new park, which currently goes by the obnoxious name “middle of the island”, is located near the heel of the island, halfway between Islanders Beach Park and the Hilton Head Island airport.
How the park could affect the middle area of the island
It’s not just the old golf course that deserves special attention, said councilman Alex Brown, whose Ward 1 encompasses the proposed park as well as surrounding land.
The proposed park will be built on the 103 acres of this site, which residents currently use as informal green space for cycling and walking. Kelly Jean Kelly/Staff
“I’m really excited about what we’re doing in the mid-island region,” Brown said. “I think the park is a good idea, but that’s not the focus.”
The most important element is to build a community in this part of the island, which historically has not received the same attention as the tourist areas of the city closer to the beaches. For example, most grocery stores are concentrated along the island’s sole, easily accessible to homes and beachfront resorts.
“Ward One is the most diverse area of Hilton Head from a land use perspective, from an ethnic perspective, from an economic perspective,” Brown said at the May 24 meeting. . “Now is our chance to improve it.”
About 20% of neighborhood residents are black and 40% are Hispanic. The remaining 40% are white. In comparison, 80-88% of the other five neighborhoods on the island are white.
City officials hope investing in a park will spur private investment and nearby redevelopment, as has happened around Lowcountry Celebration Park.
“Hotels, restaurants, businesses in this area have spent money upgrading their private facilities,” said Jennifer Ray, who leads the capital improvement program. “We believe this part of the island…hasn’t had the same more recent investment.”
In interviews and survey responses, residents identified some of their priorities for the area as “green; close and comfortable, and within walking distance”. Currently, the commercial area is made up of 1970s storefronts with ample parking.
Andrew Overbeck, an urban planner who presented at the meeting, asked the audience to instead imagine an area more like Harbor Town on Hilton Head, Old Town Bluffton or the I’On neighborhood in Mount Pleasant. He hoped the neighborhood would be a place where people would want to get out of their cars and walk around.
This could even include new housing, which is a hot topic in Hilton Head because affordable residences are scarce.
Brown pointed out that the housing crisis is not just affecting workers who serve the tourism industry, but also young Islanders graduating from high school or college.
“When you have young people who grew up in Hilton Head…and want to be part of Hilton Head and our community, but they can’t because we don’t have the housing stock to accommodate them, that’s really disturbing, isn’t it? And we can do better,” Brown said.
At present, plans for the park are much more advanced than a vision for the entire region. The proposal under consideration includes a large lawn, flower beds, a playground, an ecological park, an outdoor market and multi-use paths.
