City and partners outline master plan for new Columbia riverfront park

City and university representatives presented a master plan for a proposed riverfront park on the Fin Yard property designed to connect the university, Granby Park and the city'wide riverfront trail.

The project team said the plan is a public'private partnership that includes the City of Columbia, the University of South Carolina and its foundation, the Boyd Foundation and Inman Yard Associates. The presenter said the Boyd Foundation has given $5 million to the project and that members of the Inman Yard family have agreed to donate land to the city for the park.

"I think this park will be the single greatest thing that has happened in Columbia since we built the State House," Heather told attendees as the project presentation opened, urging students and campus partners to engage in design input.

Project leaders described eight working goals for the park: a riverfront that reflects community identity, community wellbeing and quality-of-life amenities, environmental sustainability and education, economic development along park edges, multimodal connectivity, interpretation of the site's industrial and canal history, recreational opportunities and resilient governance and maintenance plans. They said Field Operations, a Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm with national experience, is leading the design team.

The team showed an orientation of the site, a largely undeveloped 60-acre Fin Yard parcel with roughly 20 adjacent privately owned acres being evaluated for development opportunities. The presenter highlighted trail connections under the Blossom Street bridge to the university and to Granby Park, and said the park is intended to plug into a planned 27-mile regional riverfront trail.

Project staff emphasized floodplain constraints and resiliency: the site sits in the floodplain and suffered damage in 2015, so design will prioritize areas appropriate for structures, preserve habitat and include flood-resilient approaches. The team said ecological work will include pond and creek restoration and habitat protection for birds and pollinators.

Officials said the master plan process is underway and that the city aims to complete and approve the master plan in July, after which schematic design and phased construction planning will follow. The presenters said the park will be built in phases and that the team is still developing funding strategies; they estimated the scope of phases could range widely depending on design and programming choices.

The project team cited examples from other cities, including the High Line in New York and large regional parks, as precedents for using parks to catalyze nearby economic activity. They also highlighted robust public engagement so far, including a public meeting with more than 300 attendees, and asked campuses to help the team reach students for ongoing outreach.

Next steps include continued stakeholder meetings and public review of the draft master plan prior to final city approval. The project team encouraged attendees to watch the city's project webpage for updates and opportunities to provide feedback.