New baseball, bike features planned for Hilton Head’s Crossings Park
A bike trail that doesn’t require pedaling and a new pair of baseball fields highlight an additional phase of island park development.
Future plans for some of Hilton Head’s major parks are being finalized this summer, and Crossings Park is set to receive brand new baseball and biking facilities in the expansion.
Prior to the town’s recent parks and recreation master plan workshop, town council had asked MKSK, the consultant helping craft plans for several other parks on the island, to explore adding a new 400-foot baseball diamond to the park. Crossings Park currently hosts a three-field baseball complex, where two of the fields are 210 feet and one is 300 feet.
Capital Program Manager Jennifer Ray said her staff consulted with area athletic directors and recreational leagues, and found there wasn’t sufficient demand for a 400-foot diamond hosting teams for older age ranges. Instead of the larger field, two 210-foot fields are planned on the west side of the park, facing Helmsman Way.
All new fields will have concessions facilities. The existing 280-foot diamond will expand to 300 feet in the current draft.
The fields will be able to accommodate softball as well, Ray said, with flexibility to add temporary netting, change base paths, and make infield or pitching mound changes.
The draft plan also includes installation of a bike pump track, a course that requires no pedaling or pushing when ridden properly, with a picnic pavilion nearby. The area also has conventional biking and walking trails.
The draft plan positions the pump track in the southern portion of the park, but Mayor Alan Perry suggested the track be moved north of the parking lot for the Bristol Sports Arena skate park.
The current draft also includes 391 parking spaces.
Final plans for the larger parks and recreation master plan are expected to come before town council late this summer, Ray said.
