Pickleball, pools, parking:Town weighs possibilities for future of Chaplin Park
Three P’s will weigh heavily on the town’s future plans for Chaplin Community Park: pickleball, pools and parking.
Chaplin is one of several locations being expanded or newly built as part of the town of Hilton Head’s parks and recreation master plan, and took up a majority of discussion at the most recent town council workshop on the subject.
Much of the park is located just off the William Hilton Parkway between Burkes Beach and Singleton Beach roads, with a separate, smaller portion on the west side of Singleton Beach road.
Between councilmembers, consensus was reached quickly regarding pickleball. Of the park’s four alternative designs proposed by MKSK, the council gravitated toward those that guaranteed at least 24 new pickleball courts would be added to Chaplin.
The 24 new courts would feature shading areas, restrooms and a vending area. The existing on-site tennis courts would also be renovated and provided with similar amenities.
Legions of pickleball players, organized into larger local organizations, have come before town council in recent years asking for public investment into what is the fastest growing sport in the country, especially popular with older players looking for ways to stay active and build community.
Pickleheads, a website of pickleball enthusiasts used to find places to play their fast-growing sport, lists 8 facilities on Hilton Head Island currently. The town council also recently agreed to a land swap with the county that would hand ownership of the Adrianna pickleball courts over to the town, a move that has been repeatedly requested by island pickleball groups upset at the courts’ current state.
More contentious was the possibility of include a 25 to 50-meter (82 to 164-foot) swimming pool in the Chaplin expansion. Ward 4 councilwoman Tamara Becker, who represents that area, questioned whether putting a public pool in the area was the best location, instead suggesting it might be more appropriately placed around the island’s north end, since many homes in the flanking neighborhoods already have pool access.
Town staff are considering other sites for a public pool.
Becker was also one of several who raised concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety in the area, particularly on Singleton and Burkes Beach roads. The designs presented would each introduce over 500 new parking spaces across the area to accommodate the park and its facilities.
Chaplin Park proposals by the numbers
- Park size: 111 acres
- 12 to 24 proposed pickleball courts
- Around 580 proposed parking spots
- 5 proposed mulituse fields, proposal including natural and synthetic turf fields
- 6 tennis courts
- 2 restrooms, with 2 more proposed
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
