Water park to close for season Saturday - Dan Rodgerson

Water park to close for season Saturday
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Date: Sep 20, 2005
Start Page: B.2
Section: Metro
Text Word Count: 173

Document Text
STAFF_REPORTS

SIMPSONVILLE -- There is one more weekend of water park fun for residents and families at Discovery Island.

The water park, located in Southside Park between Simpsonville and Mauldin, will close for the season on Saturday, a Greenville County Recreation District press release said.

Hours will be from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It said Discovery Island has had more than 120,000 guests -- three times the number of visitors the Greenville County Recreation District expected for the park's first year.

The success of the water park has officials looking at options. In the past few weeks, a Texas-based consultant was hired to do a feasibility study to see how to expand Discovery Island and whether another water park should be opened somewhere else in the county.

"The community is eager for more activities within the water park," Dan Rodgerson, executive director of the Greenville County Recreation District, said in the release.

"We are currently researching various funding options and amenities for the site. We are optimistic we can make it happen."

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10/12/2011

Work on Simpsonville water park to begin - Dan Rodgerson

Work on Simpsonville water park to begin
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: April M Silvaggio
Date: Feb 23, 2004
Start Page: B.2
Section: Suburbs
Text Word Count: 354

Document Text
Groundbreaking set for Thursday at Southside Park

By April M. Silvaggio

STAFF_WRITER

asilvagg@greenvillenews.com

SIMPSONVILLE -- When the Greenville County Recreation District breaks ground this week on an estimated $2.3 million water park complete with spouting geysers, splashy slides and a 270-foot lazy river, Jaquilla Perry plans to be there with her 3-year-old son, Jacob.

"I want to see what all the talk is about," the 29-year-old Simpsonville mother said.

"If it is going to be anything like the ones we've been to at the beach, I can already tell you we'll be at Southside Park all the time when it opens. It seems like it'll be a really neat place to take the kids."

The official is planned for a groundbreaking ceremony 1 p.m. Thursday at Southside Park on Baldwin Road.

Plans call for Discovery Island Family Aquatic Center to be opened this summer, said Dan Rodgerson, executive director of the recreation district.

On Thursday, folks can view the architectural renderings and through some visual aids see the actual size of the facility and the height of the tallest slide.

Along with the lazy river, the water park will include a 250-foot tube slide and a 185-foot body slide, as well as play structures and a play area to serve the smallest swimmers.

"To me, this is something Greenville County has needed," Perry said. "There is nothing like this anywhere around here."

And it is better than filling up a small plastic swimming pool in the back yard with a garden hose when the summer heat hits, she said.

"That is what we would be doing, because Jacob loves the water," she said.

Shelters will be in place at Discovery Island to accommodate parties, family reunions and corporate functions. The facility also will be available for private rental after hours.

It will be funded from the issuance of a low-interest revenue bond, which allows the proceeds from the use of the facility to pay for the debt service on the construction costs. Admission probably will cost $4-$6 per person, Rodgerson said.

Officials expect an estimated 40,000 people to use the park in its first summer.

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1-/12/2011

2.3 million project to help rec district learn if strategy will float - Dan Rodgerson

2.3 million project to help rec district learn if strategy will float
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: April M Silvaggio
Date: Dec 17, 2003
Start Page: B.2
Section: Suburbs
Text Word Count: 445

Document Text
Agency's overall goal is to run more efficiently

By April M. Silvaggio

STAFF WRITER

asilvagg@greenvillenews.com

SIMPSONVILLE - Public swimming pools generally lose money.

On the flip side of the coin, the same studies that document those losing trends show that publicly operated water parks are typically money makers.

That's one of the reasons that the Greenville County Recreation District is about to build a $2.3 million water park at Southside Park.

"Our overall goal is not necessarily to make money, but definitely to run more efficiently," said Dan Rodgerson, executive director of the Recreation District. "And we'd really like to carry this concept through the rest of the district."

The recreation district, structured as a special purpose tax district chartered by the state Legislature in 1968, is overseen by a seven-member board of commissioners who are recommended by the Greenville County Council and approved by the governor.

The district is one of the largest providers of public leisure time opportunities in Greenville County.

A total of 41 park sites provide the setting for a wide range of activities from picnicking and camping to horseback riding and ice skating. Special programs offered throughout the year include community center activities, day camps and instructional opportunities in various sports.

A 4.5-mill operational tax - which equals about 2 cents on the property tax dollar - is currently assessed by the district. Folks who live outside the district in the cities of Greer, Greenville, Mauldin and Simpsonville pay nothing.

The district has an annual operating budget of an estimated $5 million, with about another $2 million for capital improvements. But that $2 million barely covers maintenance and upkeep on the existing facilities.

"We're experiencing explosive growth all throughout the county, but we don't have a mechanism in place to have our park infrastructure keep up with the growth," Rodgerson said.

"Our parks are heavily used and have a lot of maintenance issues. That is just going to get worse unless we really start to think outside the box and do what we need to do to keep the green in Greenville."

In the meantime, Rodgerson said he is trying to ensure that the district is run more like a business.

"And for the long term, we're starting some dialogue with some movers and shakers in Greenville to see what we can do to make sure that we've got enough parks for the people who are moving here," he said.

The recreation district is seeking corporate sponsorships from businesses to help with the cost of amenities at Discovery Island. A ground breaking ceremony in January will recognize the major contributors.

Staff writer April M. Silvaggio can be reached at 298-4800

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10/12/2011

Ballpark figure pitched for new fields - Dan Rodgerson

Ballpark figure pitched for new fields
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: Anna B Brutzman
Date: Mar 2, 2005
Start Page: A.1
Section: Front
Text Word Count: 992

Document Text
Little League teams hope to swing funds for facilities

By Anna B. Brutzman

STAFF_WRITER

Brutzman@greenvillenews.com

There won't be the usual parade down Brushy Creek Road on Northwood Little League's opening day March 26.

The baseball fields at the league's home of 25 years -- Northwood Middle -- have been scraped away to make room for a new school. The backstops, concession stand, picnic tables and wooden bleachers are gone, and this year's 600 players are migrating from field to field at county parks, churches and schools to keep their league together.

Watching his 11-year-old son, Andrew, field grounders at his first practice of the season Tuesday, Northwood Little League parent Mitch Glasko wondered why the county doesn't spend more money on baseball programs.

"It's a shame," he said. "They spend money on everything else."

Dual proposals that Greenville County Council member Jim Burns pitched Tuesday would provide a total of $1 million for Northwood to build five fields -- but at the expense of other recreation projects. They were referred to the council's finance committee and need final approval from the full council.

Northwood Little League coach David Chemell said the league has a strong place in the community -- he works with kids whose grandparents played for Northwood.

"It'll be different this year," he said.

Burns' proposal comes four months after former Greenville County Council Chairwoman Phyllis Henderson failed in her bid to cut tourism grants for the arts to help Northwood build a new $3 million complex on the Enoree River. Without county help, the league runs the risk of dissolving, Burns said.

Little League parent Angela Bovee of Greer said she and other parents are worried about what will happen if the county doesn't approve supporting a new home park for the league.

"There won't be a team," she said.

Still, about $400,000 that Burns recommended for Northwood comes from County Council surplus funds allocated in December for other parks. Nine parks, ranging from the Pavilion to a new home for Camp Spearhead, would lose 10 percent of the funding the county committed for new facilities and renovations. Another $600,000 would be borrowed and paid off over the next 10 to 15 years, but it would use $70,000 in annual tourism grants the Greenville County Recreation District has used in the past for a variety of other projects.

"When we didn't really have enough money to do projects right in the first place, shaving 10 percent is a challenge," said Dan Rodgerson, Greenville County Recreation District executive director.

Some of the money has also already been spent, Rodgerson said, including $375,000 for new soccer fields on Anderson Ridge Road. Under Burns' proposal, the fields are only supposed to get $337,500.

Burns said exceptions would be made for such situations, and he expects tweaks in the plan over the coming weeks.

Greenville resident Farrell Thomas said he is sympathetic to the urgency of Northwood's needs but questioned why the council would divert money from areas of the county that are much more needy. He is executive director of the Piedmont Christian Athletic Association, a group in southern Greenville County largely targeting at-risk minority youths for baseball, soccer, basketball, track and golf teams. Two projects near Piedmont -- at Woodmont High and in the Princeton area -- would lose a total of $95,000 in funding under Burns' proposal.

"There are no facilities in the Piedmont area," he said. "For these individuals, sports is an outlet. It keeps you out of trouble."

Council member Joe Dill, who represents northern Greenville County, also objected to Burns' proposal during Tuesday's council meeting -- it would cut $95,000 from a Blue Ridge park project.

Blue Ridge resident David Carson said his 18-year-old son played baseball with Northwood, and he has always supported the program. But like Thomas, he questioned why the county would neglect his area.

"I guess people assume there's so many trees, there's no need for a park," he said, adding that kids need organized activities: "It's a health issue. Look at all the heavy-set kids."

Northwood's time to build a new home is running short -- ground must be broken by July for fields to be ready for the 2006 season, according to Northwood coach Pat Fitzsimmons.

The Eastside community needs the fields, he said, because it depended in the past on the eight ball fields the Little League operated at Northwood Middle, he said. According to county recreation officials, there are only four public baseball fields in the Eastside.

Northwood's plan is to recreate what it had at its former site, on land donated to the Greenville County Recreation District by the Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority, Fitzsimmons said. Ultimately, the league wants to build a concession stand and restrooms, a playground and parking lot. The Little League has committed $500,000 and would run the fields. It had counted on about $1.75 million coming from the county for construction.

"The idea is to have a nice park on the Eastside," Fitzsimmons said.

'Staff writer E. Richard Walton contributed to this story.

BE HEARD

Find out how online

+The Greenville County Council is considering how to fund ballfields. Read the proposals and learn where to voice your views by clicking on Local News and selecting Politics at: GreenvilleOnline.com

WHAT'S NEXT

+The $1 million in dual funding proposals to start construction of Northwood Little League fields needs approval by the county's finance committee. Once back in County Council's hands, the proposal will then need a public hearing and two affirmative council votes.

"They've been struggling to find adequate places to play. They had to cut practices short."

Jenni Gentry, Taylors

"It'll be different this year."

David Chemell, Northwood Little League coach

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Cutline: PATRICK COLLARD/Staff

Wound up: Northwood Little Leaguer Austin Burrows throws to first base during his team's first practice of the year Tuesday night at Butler Springs Park. League officials are seeking county help to build five new fields.






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Campers will get another year at Spearhead - Dan Rodgerson

Campers will get another year at Spearhead
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: Anna B Brutzman
Date: Apr 7, 2005
Start Page: A.1
Section: Front
Text Word Count: 715

Document Text
Civitans camp session to cost $25,000

By Anna B. Brutzman

STAFF WRITER

Brutzman@greenvillenews.com

Hundreds of developmentally disabled children and adults will return to Camp Spearhead this summer, but it's going to cost camp leaders $25,000 as opposed to the $1 fee of years past.

Parents might prefer that money go toward camp activities, but they said they are still happy their children will return to the camp they know one more year.

Camper parent Sheri Price, a special education teacher, said she was relieved because her foster son, Larry Keasler, might not be able to attend a new camp if it had limited facilities. He uses a wheelchair and needs to stay in an air-conditioned space, she said.

"He's no longer in school so camp's all he has left," she said. "It's going to be the worst day of his life when I tell him he can't go back to camp."

Tammy Wakefield, also a special education teacher, said it's important to keep the camp going while a new Camp Spearhead is under construction at Pleasant Ridge County Park in northern Greenville County. Developmentally disabled people who skip a summer of programs such as Camp Spearhead could lose basic skills, she said.

The Greenville County Recreation District, which took over management of Camp Spearhead in February, approached Greenville Civitan Charities Inc. about a month ago to negotiate a new, eight-week lease for the site used for the camp since 1992, said Dan Rodgerson, executive director of the Recreation District. Repairs and insurance costs for the camp this year are pushing costs over $30,000, he said.

New site not ready

He said the new site at Pleasant Ridge County Park has not broken ground yet and working with the Civitans was the only way for Camp Spearhead to open again this year.

Camp Spearhead erupted into controversy a year ago when the Civitans asked the county's Disabilities and Special Needs Board, the camp's former operator, for a new lease on the Cleveland camp. No written lease for the camp - for which Spearhead leaders said they paid $1 a year - was found, and both sides sued after the Civitans asked for an annual $25,000 fee.

All litigation was dropped in December when the Recreation District offered to take over and relocate camp to Pleasant Ridge County Park, boosted by $500,000 from the Greenville County Council and another $500,000 in other donations, Rodgerson said.

Greenville Civitan Club President Ellen Pourmand said her club's camp has always been available to Spearhead under certain conditions.

She said the $25,000 fee would pay for insurance to cover any incidents at Camp Spearhead.

Whatever is left, she said, would go toward projects the club has carried out on in the community for years - including care packages to soldiers and Easter baskets for developmentally disabled adults.

The long-term prospects of the 178-acre property are uncertain, she said, and the Civitans have had a couple of offers to purchase it.

She said no specific uses for that land have been discussed yet.

Supporting a move

The camp itself is on about 65 acres and has operated for low-income and special-needs children and adults for several decades, Pourmand said.

"We'd like that part to remain as a camp serving individuals from Greenville County," she said. "At this point, it's hard to say if that's what would happen."

Camper parent Pat Grissop said her son Eric got used to attending the Civitans camp, though she supports a move. She said she would arrive early to camp with Eric and sit by the lake - when a busload of children arrived, they could hear the chatter and screams of excitement.

"When the kids got off that bus, they knew exactly where to go and what to do," she said.

'Staff writer Anna B. Brutzman can be reached at 298-4394.

TEACHERS, PARENTS HAPPY FOR ONE MORE YEAR AT CAMP

"Most often it negates what you do all year if you don't have something for the children to do over the summer."

-- Tammy Wakefield, special education teacher

"They have improved that site so much. It makes me ill to have to start from scratch."

--Sheri Price, camper parent, special education teacher

"He's excited to have one more year there."

-- Pat Grissop, camper parent

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Recreation District seeks more money to improve parks - Dan Rodgerson

Recreation District seeks more money to improve parks
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: Ben Szobody
Date: May 24, 2005
Start Page: A.16
Section: Front
Text Word Count: 618

Document Text
Some residents say they need more, better playing fields

By Ben Szobody

STAFF_WRITER

bszobody@greenvillenews.com

Five months after the county spent $4 million for new and improved parks, the Greenville County Recreation District said the ones it already had need at least $10 million of work, and it wants taxpayers to help foot the bill.

A district proposal that surfaced Monday night in County Council's Finance Committee asks permission to increase property taxes by 2 mills, or about $9 extra a year for the county's median $111,800 home. The total district tax rate would increase to 6.7 mills, or about $30 a year for a home of the same value.

"I don't think it's going to happen," said committee Chair Judy Gilstrap, particularly in a reassessment year when she said tax bills are likely to increase anyway. Of the four committee members present Monday, two said they could support the proposal while two said they wouldn't.

The discussion was held to explore other options, including a state law that allows counties to gain a small percentage of added tax revenues in a reassessment year based on inflation.

The proposal to levy new taxes for leaning light poles, rusty fences and dirty bathrooms resurrects a conflicting issue for county taxpayers who have repeatedly asked for more parks and who struggle to hold practices and sports games at odd hours because of limited space and sub-par facilities. They've also consistently voted down tax hikes, including the sweeping "Penny for Parks" plan in 2002.

Chanell Moore, the district's chief financial officer, said the district has increased its millage for normal operations once since 1968 -- by 0.2 mills for disability needs. The requested hike would generate about $2.4 million a year and pay only for overdue maintenance in existing parks, she said.

In one discussed incident, a child recently received an electric shock because of a poorly maintained lighting system at Blue Ridge Middle School. Moore said more than $1 million in immediately needed repairs are related to lighting.

"We just don't think it's prudent to continue to build parks without an ability to maintain them," said Dan Rodgerson, the district's executive director.

The county's maintained park space has increased by 30 percent over the last five years, he said, while the district has lost tax income to city annexation and the recent elimination of the automobile property tax. Of the $4 million in county surplus money allocated to the district at the end of last year, about three-fourths was designated for new parks, Rodgerson said.

Before the committee meeting, however, he said he knew a tax increase of any sort is likely to be unpopular with voters and difficult for elected officials to embrace. Gilstrap, a Democrat, and Scott Case, a Republican, said they couldn't support the request, while Xanthene Norris, a Democrat, and Jim Burns, a Republican, said they could.

Gilstrap and Norris are among five council members facing re-election next year.

"People want parks," Gilstrap said. "They just don't want to pay for it. If we force them to pay, they're going to find council members who won't."

Case proposed finding out how much property tax money the county will be allowed to add to its current revenue stream based on this year's Consumer Price Index, or the inflation of the cost of goods. The county currently gets about $58 million in annual property tax revenues, according to current budget figures, while the nationwide CPI index for the last 12 months is 3.5 percent.

At those rates, the county would net an additional $2 million in revenues as a result of reassessment.

The vote to hold the tax increase proposal while the county's "CPI adjustment" is considered was unanimous.

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Sign-up for rec programs to get easier - Dan Rodgerson

Sign-up for rec programs to get easier
The Greenville News - Greenville, S.C.
Author: Kevin Arrowood
Date: Jan 26, 2004
Start Page: B.3
Section: Metro
Text Word Count: 339

Document Text
Software to aid league registration

By Kevin Arrowood

STAFF_WRITER

karrowoo@greenvillenews.com

When Derrick Edwards heard about the pending installation of the new Recware Safari software in Greenville County Recreation facilities, his first thought was: "Heavenly."

Registering for recreation programs will become easier for Edwards and the other 24,000 people who participate annually in the district's paid instructive programs and sport leagues.

The benefit of Recware Safari "is anybody can go to any one of our facilities to register for any one of our programs," said Dan Rodgerson, executive director of the Greenville County Recreation District.

It will replace a system in which residents have to go to the Pavilion to register for skating lessons, to the Riverbend center to sign up for horseback riding lessons or other places for other activities.

Edwards plans to enroll his 9-year-old daughter in swimming lessons this summer.

The new program will be a lot easier, he said. He registered his daughter for skating lessons at the Pavilion in the fall of 2001.

When he registers her for other recreation programs in the future, he won't have to resubmit their information, Rodgerson said. The information about families who have participated in the county's programs will be stored in the software, he said.

"It will be a convenience for all the residents in Greenville, and it will simplify and streamline our registration process," he said.

Rodgerson said the software also will determine what programs are generating the most interest and which ones aren't getting much attention. That will enable the district to focus on trends and interests in the community, he said.

The old registration system has been inefficient and costly, he said.

For the new system, the software, installation and training for employees will cost about $30,000. It will be "up and going countywide in three months," he said.

The recreation district paid for the software in self-generated funds from the $2 million it receives annually in program fees, he said.

In three to five years, the program is expected to pay for itself.

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