Renovations on Rock Hill’s Ebenezer Park were scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2020 but are still underway and nearing completion, according to Pat Morrison, park superintendent.
“We started [renovations] in November of 2019, and they were supposed to be done in August, so we’re definitely behind schedule, but we do feel we’re getting really close,” Morrison said. “We’re waiting to get a CO, a Certificate of Occupancy, and as soon as they give us that, we’ll probably do a soft opening then maybe a grand opening as it gets a little bit warmer.”
The park went under construction before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and interrupted the park’s renovations, but only in the way of obtaining building materials.
“[The pandemic] did impact materials, but not so much from a workforce standpoint, but there were several delays in trying to get materials for certain things, so that definitely played into us being delayed in opening,” Morrison said.
Ebenezer Park renovations include an 800–foot pier and a swimming area in Lake Wylie, picnic destinations, bench swings, a multipurpose building and multiple other attractions intended for land and water sports.
“This is gonna be the draw,” Morrison said in reference to the pier that encloses a swimming area. “They dredged out, I think 2,200 cubic yards of silt built up over the years, so now our swim area is a little deeper. It was more for kids then, but now we’ll have a lot of adults who go out there and have fun now that it’s much larger.”
The new swimming area and scenic pier will be an attraction for not only Rock Hill locals, but for people in surrounding areas as well, especially for those who enjoy water sports.
“A common activity around here is boating of course…across the way, we added a new kayak and canoe launch because people would normally drag their canoes and kayaks down along this wall and put them in over here, but now they’ll be able to safely launch them from over there,” Morrison said.
“Then we added a few boat slips just to give us additional parking for boats and for people loading and unloading, so that will help with the crowd control stuff. And of course, we got picnic tables where you can sit out here and enjoy a picnic right on the lake.”
The Ebenezer Park property has been leased by York County from Duke Energy since the late 80s when the park only contained the picnic area, swimming area and a few other areas such as the Ranger Station.
According to a CN2 article, the “project total is $4.6 million. Those funds came from hospitality taxes so there was no tax increase for residents. Leaders say the park is a great place for people to visit and they’re looking forward to opening in the next few weeks.”
Ebenezer Park is about a 15–minute drive from Winthrop University and it will make an excellent spot for students to engage in outdoor activities.
Photo by Olivia Esselman
