Garrett Willoughby & Anthony Bove, GNP contributors
Kandie Smith was there in 2010 when the Greenville City Council voted on the Town Common Master Plan.
She held a seat on the City Council and at the time, she recalled, her focus was on the master plan’s memorial to a long-gone African-American church.
The church—the Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church—stood at First and Greene streets when land that is today’s Town Common was home to a mostly African-American neighborhood.
The church burned down in the 1960s. At about the same time, the city leveled the neighborhood as part of a “slum clearance” program.
Smith said that In 2010 she thought that any commercial structure proposed in the master plan would be built across First Street from the Town Common, not on the Common itself.
That is not what the plan shows. And its 2016 update focuses on locating an event center and restaurant directly on the Town Common.
Earlier this year, a vote by the current city council set the stage for building that kind of commercial structure on the Town Common. That despite emails from 127 citizens who object to commercializing the city’s park along the Tar River.
GNP spent the past four months tracking down the former City Council members to ask why they voted for the 2010 master plan and its 2016 update.
Four agreed to speak with GNP. Besides Smith, they were former council members Marion Blackburn and Calvin Mercer, and former mayor Pat Dunn.
What the Town Common means
Each of four former council members spoke lovingly of the Town Common as the city’s central green space.
Smith keyed in on the history of the Town Common and peaceful nature of the park.
“The Town Common means an open space where people can gather and just enjoy life,” Smith said. “It’s an opening and welcoming location with some very serene points. So, I like it, but I also like the history of it as well.”
Dunn was city’s mayor in 2010 when the original Town Common Master Plan was approved. She said that when she thinks of the Common, she sees “an open space where people can escape their busy lives. They can partake in activities such as fishing, canoeing and paddle boating or just bring the kids to play.”
Blackburn was there for votes on the 2010 master plan and the 2016 update. She said that for her, the Town Common means “a peaceful open space that the citizens of Greenville can enjoy the nature the park brings.”
She said she and her family spend a lot of time at the Town Common.
Commercialize the Common?
Even though they see value in the Town Common as the city’s public-owned park, the four former council members still voted to approve the master and its update.
Listed in the 2010 master plan is a large civic building, a plaza that would provide retail space and an event center.
In the 2016 update, the civic building is a much bigger focus. The update says the civic building would be 11,000 square feet and provide meeting rooms, kitchen/dining capabilities, a cultural and art museum, and an outdoor patio.
The current City Council’s vote in June rezoned 1.4 acres on the east side of the Town Commons for commercial development consistent with the 2016 master plan update.
Mercer, who served on the City Council in 2010 and 2016, did not speak directly with GNP. Instead, he referred it to newsletters he regularly emails out to citizens.
In his June 13 newsletter, he said that conversations he had with a few people had left him open to the idea of modest upgrades to the Town Common. But he wrote that he quickly changed his mind after visiting the park.
“Within 60 seconds of walking the part of the Common in question, it was clear,” he wrote. “100 percent clear that I didn’t want anything put there. Nothing.”
Still, he voted to approve the 2010 master plan and the 2016 update.
Blackburn said that it was never her overall vision to fill the Town Common with buildings. She described the June rezoning vote as a “slap in the face.”
Smith said that she understands the need for some form of facility where Knee Deep Adventures could rent out and store its kayaks. But, she said, such a structure shouldn’t be anything too big.
“I personally think any large building should be across the street,” she said. “I’m not in favor of just putting it right on the Town Common.”
Smith voted to approve the 2010 and 2016 update.
Former 2010 council members Bryant Kittrell and Max Joyner Jr., and former 2016 council members Allen Thomas and Mclean Godley did not respond to GNP’s requests for interviews.
Willoughby and Bove produced this report for the Fall 2021 capstone course, In-depth News Reporting.
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