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Resident urges North Charleston council to fund and timeline replacement after neighborhood center sold
Summary
At the April 9 council meeting, Betty C., president of the Mill and Park Stahl Road Civic Center, told the council residents were “profoundly troubled” that the neighborhood center was sold in August 2024 without meaningful public engagement and said $1.2 million set aside is short a roughly $4 million gap.
Betty C., president of the Mill and Park Stahl Road Civic Center, told the North Charleston City Council on April 9 that residents were "profoundly troubled" the community center was sold in August 2024 without a meaningful opportunity for local input. She said the sale removed "the heart of our neighborhood" and left programs and services without a secure replacement.
"There was no fully funded plan, no construction underway, no guaranteed transition to protect the programs and services that supported our community," Betty C. said, urging the council to provide a dated action plan with clear benchmarks and a defined construction timeline.
In her three-minute public comment, Betty C. said $1,200,000 from the sale had been set aside for construction of a new facility on Orvis Street, but that the group now understands an additional $4,000,000 is needed. "That funding gap leaves us in an uncertainty without a building and without a definite timeline," she said.
Betty C. said the agreement allowing the group to hold meetings through the Charleston County School District does not replace the facility’s full range of services, including educational programs, youth activities and senior engagement. She asked the council to "prioritize securing the necessary funding" and to present "an immediate action-dated plan with clear benchmarks." The clerk asked her to state her address for the record; the council offered thanks but did not provide a substantive response in the transcript.
The council did not record any vote or formal direction on the request in the meeting transcript. The comment was made during the public-comment portion of the agenda, and no city staff response, timeline or funding commitment appears in the transcript of this meeting. The council adjourned after the evening’s other business, including two final-reading easements.
What happens next will depend on whether the council places the issue on a future agenda or directs staff to present funding options or a project timeline.
