NEWBERRY — Scott Sawyer, director of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, discussed two upcoming projects that Newberry residents can look forward to in the upcoming months during Coffee with the Mayor and City Manager.
The first is the Oakland Tennis Center, which will include six hard courts and three clay courts. According to Sawyer the clay courts are essentially done.
“The contractor’s day is Nov. 1. We do not think he is going to hit that because we have had some weather issues and so forth,” he said.
The hard courts will be free to play on, but are first come, first serve. The clay courts will have a fee, and there will be a fee to reserve either courts for a specific time and day.
“We are not trying to build a tennis center, we are trying to build a tennis program. We are going to get everybody we can out there,” Sawyer said. “We want to make sure people are getting out there and getting healthy. Tennis is a relatively inexpensive sport, if you want to get healthy.”
There will soon be wheelchair accessible swings at Marion and Davis Park. Sawyer said he is extremely excited about this, the frames for the swings are already installed, and by the end of next week the fence should be up as well.
“These are going to be the first of their kind in the United States. There are none in the United States like the ones we have,” he said. “These are going to be awesome. We will have a ribbon cutting for this. I see that happening within a month.”
City Manager Matt DeWitt discussed the work taking place on Nance Street to replace the water/sewer lines. He said when they have finished replacing the lines they will re-pave and the finished project will be much improved.
Tamara Tootle, division director, discussed the upcoming Miss Newberry pageant that is being held on Nov. 5.
“We have, right now, six young ladies who will be competing for the Miss Newberry Scholarship and four young ladies who will be competing for the Miss Newberry Outstanding Teen Scholarship. All of this is part of the franchise for the Miss South Carolina and Miss America organization, and is strictly a scholarship driven program,” she said.
Mayor Foster Senn gave a few updates on recent City of Newberry events, and some construction taking place within the city.
“Oktoberfest of course was a big success, it was a nerve-wracking morning, it would not quit raining and a lot of city staff were sweating, and businesses were sweating, Then it quit and it was a big success. We had an estimated attendance of 22,000 people, maybe more,” Foster said. “There are still Oktoberfest shirts available at PRT for anyone who is interested.”
Before Oktoberfest, Public Utilities Week was held. Senn said that it was a big success, and that is thanks to the Utility Department in Newberry.
“Our new utility director is Tim Baker, and he put together a really good program, with the help of Elyssa Haven and Katie Werts. That turned out really nice and we appreciate that,” he said.
Senn also mentioned a few construction items which include the new dorm at Newberry College, and the demolition of the old Dairy Queen that was located across from Rosemount Cemetery. In business news, Senn discussed a recent article he read in which it said that all Rite Aid’s in South Carolina are to become Walgreens, but he did not know a time table.