By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer

Get ready to cast your fishing line in the Cooper River from a new waterfront public pier and park. The town of Mount Pleasant landed 27 acres from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. The weigh-in for Mount Pleasant taxpayers: free use of land valued at more than $20 million and free access to water.

“DOT gave us first dibs on it. We’ve always had a good working relationship with them on roads and grants. Mount Pleasant is the fourth largest city in the state. Three of the largest cities are here in Charleston County, and you’ve got a lot of political muscle right here if you know how to use it,” says Mount Pleasant Mayor Harry Hallman, who served for eight years in the state Legislature and has served as mayor for the past five years.

“This is a great asset to the town of Mount Pleasant, 27 acres of new land. No doubt in my mind what to use that land for but a public park and pier. We’re surrounded by water but don’t have a lot of public access for the people. All they can say is, ‘That sure is pretty over there.’ The waterways belong to the people, not just in Mount Pleasant but all over South Carolina.”

Mount Pleasant has grown from a village to a city of more than 60,000 people. But it has only one public fishing access in the area of the old bridges and two public boat landing accesses. This is not an overnight catch for Mount Pleasant, but the result of five years of talks and what city officials call “an unwritten, but mutual use agreement” with SCDOT about the fate of the land beneath the two old bridges.

“The new (Ravenel) bridge goes inland on Mount Pleasant about a fourth of a mile, creating all this new space beneath the bridge. By partnering with the town, they’ll keep it maintained as a park-like setting that benefits everyone,” says Charles Dwyer, project manager for the new Cooper River bridge. “There’s a lot of land tied up in this agreement, and SCDOT would never sell (the 27-acres), as it is needed for transportation purposes. This agreement balances our need with another public need, recreation space, parking for use of the bike and pedestrian lanes, etc.”

The 27 acres involved in the waterfront park falls into three categories— land under the new bridge, land under the Pearman Bridge and land under the Grace Bridge.

SCDOT owns the right-of-way under the new bridge but will allow Mount Pleasant to use it for parking in their proposed waterfront park.

SCDOT wants to preserve the right-of-way beneath the Pearman Bridge and use it as a corridor for maintenance to the new bridge. However, Mount Pleasant may use this land under a joint- and multiple-use intergovernmental agreement for public park development.

The last piece of property is the right-of-way beneath the Grace Bridge. SCDOT will abandon its right-of-way interest in that area and transfer the land back to Mount Pleasant. Dwyer says this is not an unusual transfer of unused right-of-ways back to local governments. In the 1960s, local governments handed over upkeep of many roads and right-of-ways to the state. In the case of Mount Pleasant, many of these roads predate the SCDOT, and it was natural for the state to return the land to the city.

Meanwhile, the town of Mount Pleasant is showing off a four-color rendering of its new waterfront pier and park. The town hired international engineering firm HDR Inc. to design a master plan for the pier.

The estimate to build the pier is $3.5 million, and that price tag covers everything from decking and lights to decorative railings. SCDOT is giving Mount Pleasant $1.5 million to help pay for the pier as part of the Cooper River bridge project funds.

When SCDOT demolishes the old bridges, they will cut and lower the pilings of the old Pearman Bridge so that the city can reuse part of the old bridge’s foundation to build the new 1,200-foot public pier. Mount Pleasant transportation engineer Brad Morrison is coordinating the planning and design efforts.

“We’ll also use part of the bridge to build an artificial reef at the end of the pier to create a new habitat for fish. It’ll make a great place to fish or just watch the sunset. We’ll have the best view in the world of the new (Ravenel) bridge,” Morrison says. “With it being the centerpiece between Charleston and Mount Pleasant, we expect to be a magnetic draw to our pier and park. Plus we’ll have lots of parking.”

Included in the master plan for the pier is the development of a 27-acre water park, which could include walking trails, a visitor’s center, picnic areas, pavilions and open natural spaces. Other possibilities include an amphitheatre, a boat landing and a snack bar, but final decisions are up to the public and city council.

According to Morrison, costs to cover the pier and the park would come from a combination of resources, such as tax increment finance funds and tourism taxes such as hospitality and accommodations taxes.

Public planning meetings for park development could take place as early as July. Once city council “figures out the nuts and bolts,” the next step is to hire an engineering firm to draw up final plans for the waterfront park.

Work could start as early as next year, but that depends on when the new bridge opens and traffic is switched. Only then can SCDOT tear down the old bridges. State contracts give demolition crews up to 18 months.

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