Celebration is held for second phase of NMB Sports Complex

By John Smithson

The City of North Myrtle Beach celebrated the opening of the second phase of the Sports Complex last Friday afternoon with a special ceremony and the planting of over 200 trees in the park. City staff took time to thank the people who made the park a reality and celebrated the 20 years as a Tree City USA.

Director of Parks and Recreation Matt Gibbons spoke about the effects resulting from the first phase of the park and that it was more than a dog park, playgrounds and fields. “It is hard to imagine the city without the park and sports complex. We are very fortunate to be here and be able to expand it and be able to offer more amenities and more opportunities, not just for the community but also for our visitors,”

“Since the park opened, we have had over 22,000 teams play on one of the fields in tournaments we’ve had. Last year we had over one million visits to the park, “Gibbons said.

Gibbons mentioned the many people who have assisted in the park project, especially Jim Grainger and his staff members. He thanked the Mozingo and Wallace architectural firm who designed both phases of the sports complex, as well as the project contractor.

Gibbons also thanked retired parks director John Bullard for his vision and leadership over the years. “Last, I want to give a special thanks to our mayor, Marilyn Hatley, incoming mayor J. Baldwin and our city council. We are blessed to have a mayor and council that supports parks and recreation and supports the facilities and things we want to do, and do it because they love our community and enable us to give back to the community and create these awesome places for the community.”

Gibbons introduced Mayor Hatley who stated that she could not believe what the sports complex looked like now. “I would have never dreamed that we would be this large, but as a young mayor I did know that we needed to grow our recreation department. We were just going along, but I felt our recreation department needed help. I was so happy when John Bullard came on as the parks department head with so much vision. He started talking to me and council at that time and this baby was born.”

Hatley stated that people in the community were not sure the city could afford the park. “We figured out a way to afford it and paid it off in a short period of time. We continued to grow, and thousands of children and parents came to our sports complex, ate in our restaurants and stayed in our accommodations. It became one of the biggest economic engines in the city of North Myrtle Beach.”

“We knew we wanted to grow our recreation programs and knew we would need an addition to our complex. People came to us and wanted to play on our fields, but we weren’t big enough. So, we created a second phase to the complex. We are big enough now. They can come and play on our fields now.”

Hatley said there were so many people to thank: the Recreation Commission, Matt Gibbons, John Bullard and Jim Grainger from city staff, the Hardee company that had done a beautiful job, and the architectural firm of Mozingo and Wallace.  “But what you see is just the first phase of the second phase. We have a lot more plans, like a pavilion, a water park and more.”

“Thank you to city council for having the vision and working together so we could create this wonderful park. I know they will continue that vision for things we will need in the city of North Myrtle Beach.”

“Thank you for allowing me to be your mayor for twenty-four years. It has been my honor and pleasure to serve. I cannot think of a better way to end my term than to open the second phase of the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex. Thank you so much,” Hatley concluded.

Matt Gibbons stated that the complex had generated $270 million in economic impact back to the community and introduced city manager Ryan Fabbri. Fabbri stated that “the opportunity to work on transformative like this one is really what drew me to come to work for and serve the city of North Myrtle Beach.”

“This is a landmark day. It’s more than fields and facilities and whatever comes next. This is about making an investment in the health and happiness and economic vitality of the community.”

“I am a soccer dad and travel on weekends where I am at a city or county facility much like this one. I will tell you that our fields are second to none. There is not one place that I have been that would top this even before the expansion. We really are the envy of the rest of South Carolina.”

“This facility is an economic driver for sports tourism and will dramatically increase our capacity to hold bigger events and the size and number of tournaments that we can accommodate. This means that we will make an active investment in securing hotels, restaurants and other small businesses within the city. It will solidify our reputation not only as a beach vacation location but also as a sports tourism destination.”

“This doesn’t happen without the commitment of Mayor Hatley and city council. I look forward to the positive impact this facility will have in our community,” Fabbri concluded.

Matt Gibbons stated that another reason for the meeting was to celebrate 20 years of Tree City USA in the city.

Emily Tinsley, chairman of the North Myrtle Beach Tree Board, spoke about the creation of the Tree Board and the eventual designation of North Myrtle Beach as a Tree City and the need to celebrate that anniversary. Tinsley introduced Anne Huyler, the South Carolina Forestry Commission Urban Forest Specialist.

Huyler said she was there to celebrate and recognize the city for 20 years as a Tree City USA. She said that The Arbor Day Foundation created the Tree City USA program “specifically focusing on the planting of trees in cities.”

Huyler went over four requirements that cities had to fulfill for the designation as a Tree City: A Public Tree Ordinance, a city Tree Board, the need to spend two dollars per capita on tree issues and were required to celebrate Arbor Day.

Huyler stated the city was doing a great job working on its tree canopy and for achieving the goals of Tree City USA for twenty years. “Thanks to all those here to plant trees today,” Huyler said.

Babs Johnston of the SC Native Plant Society spoke next and said that the mission of the society was to protect and educate others about native plants and their importance. She said there were 300 members in her local chapter and that the city had applied for a grant that fits the mission of the society. Planting of trees was an important part of their mission, and she thanked all the volunteers who came out to plant trees.

Jim Grainger, Operations Manager of Parks and Public Grounds, stated that it was a career opportunity to be involved in a project like the second phase of the sports complex. He said the landscape plan for the park designated 915 trees to be planted and that 250 trees were to be added to that in the mass planting that afternoon.

Grainger said he was proud and amazed about how many organizations were there to assist in the planting, with over forty people volunteering their time. Grainger then pointed to a live oak tree nearby as he talked about the qualities of the live oak. He stated that the tree was planted that day and would honor Mayor Hatley. “That tree will be forever known as the Marilyn Hatley tree and a plaque will be placed there,” Grainger said.

Grainger then asked the volunteers for planting to gather for planting instructions and thanked everyone for attending.