City Considers Options for Berkeley Mills Park
Many options are being considered to turn the 60 acres of property formerly owned by the Kimberly-Clark Corp. into a public space for local residents.
City of Hendersonville
WHAT HAPPENED? Wednesday night members of the new Berkeley Park Master Plan Steering Committee reviewed the possibilities to turn 60 acres of land off Balfour Road into public use for the residents of Hendersonville.
WHY DO YOU CARE? The land has been the property of the city since June 2008 and already has a baseball field on it.
HOW DID IT GO DOWN? Members of the committee include city councilmen Jeff Collis and Jerry Smith, as well as Diamond Brand's Gary Elben, Public Works Director Tom Wooten and local attorney Emily Cowan and City Planning Director Sue Anderson. After electing Smith chairman, the group heard from Henderosnville native Barrett Armstrong who is donating his expertise as a architecture student at Clemson University to develop the property.
Many ideas were kicked around during the 90 minute discussion at the City Operations Center. Members reviewed the previous recommendations from the city and citizen, with more ideas coming to the table.
"There are ample opportunities for bike trails and other mixed uses, but some of the steep slopes in the rock quarries are impermeable," Armstrong said. "I think it will be possible to preserve a lot of the native vegetation and there is a lot of potential for this property."
Smith stressed his desire to possibly connect the property to the existing Okalawaha Greenway, as well as refurbish the baseball field with grass and install modern lighting for possible use by local teams at night. Other ideas included a public Amphitheatre, utilizing the vacant quarry for possible scuba and dive instruction and the prospect of soccer fields and a golf course.
"We want to incorporate as many ideas as possible that are a good fit for the property and a good fit for Hendersonville," Smith said. "My guess is that there might be room for many things. Some people may want them, others may not, but we realize there are only so many things we can choose from and realistically implement."
"I'd like to see the layout of the land preserved as much as possible," added Collis. "It certainly does have some potential."
WHAT’S NEXT? Armstrong and his fellow students will soon visit the property and was directed to provide renderings of potential plans at the committee's Feb. 22 meeting at the Operations Center on Williams Street.
Correspondent Jonathan Rich may be contacted at jonathan@hvillescoop.com.
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