Grills, fitness stations and lawn space. Hilton Head is getting 2 new public parks
Parks are where kids learn to ride a bike, dads bond over barbecuing ribs and friends meet to escape work over rugby. They’re a space for a community to come together and connect, and they’re proven to improve mental health and increase happiness.
Hilton Head Island’s many private, gated communities like Sea Pines or Hilton Head Plantation have an abundance of manicured open spaces for outdoor recreation. For those living outside the gates of these enclaves, bigger community parks like Chaplin Community Park or Jarvis Creek Park serve multiple neighborhoods and have amenities for events and large groups.
But just three off-plantation Hilton Head neighborhoods have parks and that’s about to change.
The Hilton Head Island Town Council approved master plans for the Patterson Family Park and the Taylor Family Park last week, nearly doubling the number of neighborhood parks and giving more residents walkable access to open lawn space, outdoor fitness stations and grills, among other amenities. With $3.2 million allotted for both projects, the town is on track to break ground in early 2025, but the projects have been in the works for years.
Patterson Family Park will be on a 3.65-acre parcel off Marshland Road in the Historic Marshland Community. The town purchased the land for $312,000 in 2001 and has a $2.2 million budget for the project. It predicts the project will take a year.
For the Taylor Family Park, the Taylor Family donated the 4.9-acre parcel within the historic Squire Pope community to the town in 1991. The town has a $1 million budget for the project. It predicts the project will take nine months.
Both parks were designed to encourage community building and with Hilton Head’s rich community history, especially Gullah Geechee history, in mind.
“What went through my mind initially was just thinking about how to create spaces, inter-generational spaces that not only invite community members to come in and enjoy one another and create more organic community in everyone’s neighborhoods, but also to be able to learn about that history,” designer Jasmine White said at a November town workshop. White was brought on board to understand Hilton Head’s history and culture to inform the parks’ design.
She interviewed staple figures of Hilton Head including Louise Cohen, Thomas Barnwell and Melvin Campbell to gather information. Each of the parks will have storyboards honoring their namesakes.
The Patterson family
The Patterson family were corn farmers and their patriarch was Alexander Patterson, Sr. also known as Mitt Patterson, according to White. Accordingly, the park will be farming-themed.
“They were also known as power brokers because they had the ability to travel back and forth between Savannah and the island,” she said. The family was able to bring back goods from Savannah to the community and they were highly successful because of it. They created a community store called the Mitt Patterson store.
Features that honor the Patterson legacy could potentially include a child-size replica of the store and climbable tractor, corn silo and corn structures, White said. Other park features include open lawn space, an interactive playground, fitness stations and a covered pavilion with restrooms.
Taylor Family
The Taylor Family Park will be themed by another essential Hilton Head trade; fishing, after the McKnight family. The McKnight family acquired the land after the Civil War and sold it to the Taylor family in the 1950s.
“(The McKnight family) were a relatively small family and they were known for being farmers and fisherman,” White said.
Similar to Patterson Family Park, Taylor Family Park will have open lawn space, an interactive playground, fitness stations and a covered pavilion with restrooms. It will also have grills.
This story was originally published December 15, 2023 at 8:49 AM.
