Beaufort County to create recreation ‘hub’ east of Old Town Bluffton.
An expansion of recreation capacity in Bluffton has been a long time coming, with youth baseball schedules chock full and demand only growing. But Monday night, the Beaufort County Council approved the purchase of land east of Bluffton that could finally address the issue.
The county will purchase land at 34 Ulmer road for $3.15 million. The 41 acre parcel is adjacent to a property purchased by the Rural and Critical program previously for the purpose of a passive park and across the street from the Bluffton Recreation Center.
The three pieces would create a large enclave of recreation services, including parks, ball fields and tennis and pickleball courts, for the Bluffton community in the area east of Old Town Bluffton.
“That whole area then, will become a hub,” said Councilperson Mark Lawson, who represents the area. “If you look around the Bluffton area there are very few parcels available for us to be able to pick this up at this time and to have it for future use, I think it’s extremely extremely important.”
The council approved the purchase during their Monday night meeting. What the property will be used for exactly hasn’t be decided yet, but the county has options.
“This purchase will allow us to bring back a plan for you all to a do a combination of things,” said County Administrator Eric Greenway during the meeting. “Maybe expand the passive park operations that we’re going to build and also build additional athletic field on the property because it sits directly across the street from the Bluffton Center.”
The county has worked to find a location for a recreation expansion for some time, as the demand for the facilities in Bluffton continues to grow. It was one of councilperson Logan Cunningham’s campaign items when he ran for council in 2020.
“They’re on 10 minute turnaround times and they still don’t have enough time for all these kids to practice,” Cunningham said.
In last year, the county has been looking to find available space, but hadn’t had much luck. Originally, land was to be taken out of the Rural and Critical Land Preservation Program to build the field, but the proposal was largely unpopular.
With that land swap falling to the wayside and Camp St. Mary’s, one of the parcels the county offered in exchange for the protected land, soon to be protected as well, the county has found a solution without removing land from protection.
