Wassamassaw Park is the place to be

Spell it forward or backward, 8.5-acre, $500,000 neighborhood park is a hit

Summerville's Matthew Profit put his family and friends on notice. If you don't see him around, take a look in the town's new Wassamassaw Community Park.

The 8.65-acre, $500,000 park in the Robynwyn neighborhood opened on Monday. Neighborhood residents, town officials and children heard speeches, saw a ribbon cutting and then began enjoying the park's playground equipment, basketball courts, picnic shelters and walking trails.

The park's restrooms and two fenced dog parks also received their first uses.

Many who saw the park for the first time were impressed. Profit, who is president of the District 1 Civic Association and lives half a mile from the park, said it "has made me and all of Summerville very proud.

"This is just so beautiful. It's been awhile coming but it's been worth the wait," Profit said of the park for which property was purchased by the town in 2004. He marveled at the arrangement of the park's amenities and the way older trees were preserved to provide a natural canopy of shade.

"Planning is beyond paycheck," he said, explaining that town employees who designed the park more than earned their pay. He said he can't wait to try out the walking trails and relax on park benches.

"I plan to frequent the park very often. I could come out here with a book and the wife would have to send somebody out for me," he added.

Profit recalled that before park construction began, the site — part of a former dairy farm — was "just some overgrown lot."

Summerville Mayor Berlin G. Myers, who expressed his pride in the completed park, recalled that the site "was a mud hole" before the town began converting it into a recreation site in the area mainly north of U.S. Highway 78.

Town Councilman Aaron Brown, whose district includes the park, thanked the many town employees and officials, including town Parks and Recreation Department Director Mike Hinson, and other park supporters, for their efforts.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 745-5865.