ROCK HILL, S.C. — The City of Rock Hill wants public input on plans for a massive regional park.
City planners are designing a 140-acre park with green space, trails, and sports amenities. The goal is to build something that will generate tourism dollars for the city.
The Southside Regional Park will sprawl from Heckle Boulevard to the downtown area.
"It'll have a baseball component, it will be football, or what I will call rectangle fields," Parks, Recreation and Tourism Operations Supervisor Mark Sexton said.
Sexton told WCNC Charlotte that the park will partially be funded with the city’s hospitality tax, so it must generate tourism dollars.
"This is another opportunity for the City of Rock Hill to just continue to expand on [those] sports tourism opportunities, to have some amenities that we can continue to invite, you know, basically visitors and guests to our community," Sexton said.
According to Sexton, Rock Hill generated $80 million in tourism money last year. He said the future park will be another way to add to that when visitors come to town for sports tournaments and games.
"It's a win-win for everyone," Sexton said.
The project encompasses existing parks, like the Arcade Victoria Park, which will get needed upgrades.
"No kids come here like that no more," Rock Hill resident Michael Teasley told WCNC Charlotte. Teasley lives near the park and said it used to be filled with families but now it's quiet.
Jessica, another Rock Hill resident, who didn't share her last name, hopes the renovations will breathe new life into Arcade Victoria Park. "I just think it’d be really good, especially for this area," Jessica said.
Jessica also wants the public sports facilities to come with more youth programs.
"If they have more, I would say budget-friendly programs for the children to be able to do, it would keep a lot of kids out of the streets," Jessica said.
The entire project is estimated to cost more than $100 million.
Sexton said the city will design a plan over the next two years and wants the public’s input on what amenities to include. A community meeting was held on Tuesday and Sexton said more will be scheduled in the future.
There is also a survey on the city's website.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.