New 53-acre park in Hannah, groundbreaking to take place Friday

Hannah, S. C. – The project of the new 53-acre park in Hannah is set to start on Friday morning. The park will be located just near Bowen Elementary School.

According to officials, the last park in the area was built in 2003 and new one was more than needed for the locals. The population in the area 18 years ago was 13,000 people, but now this number is doubled.

The majority of the investment funds are from taxpayer money. However, $1 million came from the Berkeley County School District. The project was approved by over 75% of votes in favor of the park during the November 2020 election. The total cost will be $11 million.

Since the park is very close to Bowen Elementary School, it can serve as an area for after-school activities. There is no other land in the area. There will be also area for different types of activities that can be scheduled for use.

“How they actually use it is going to be up to them,” said Mike Cochran, the Hanahan City Administrator. “When we started this whole thing, we recognized they don’t have enough places to practice and we recognized that we didn’t have enough money to build a synthetic field, so the happy medium is we are actually getting something that neither of us could afford independently.”

In addition to the synthetic turf, there will be:

• Three soccer fields
• Six tennis courts
• One basketball court
• One sand volleyball court
• One playground
• One dog park
• Walking trails
• Pavilions for gatherings
• A recreation building with a concession stand and restrooms.
• A standalone restroom
• Animal control facility
• Maintenance facility

The groundbreaking is at 10:00 a.m. and is open to the public.