HVAC Repair in Goose Creek, SC

Central Creek Park is dubbed “a park for all” and so far it has been just that since opening on Dec. 16, 2022. The site on Old Moncks Corner Road has been a big success and the only real problem is finding a parking space.

It’s the three-month anniversary for Central Creek Park and it is as welcoming as envisioned when plans got rolling on the park over two years ago.

It was once just an idea for a playground but the 13-acre site is now a top destination.

The area offers pickle ball and basketball courts, a massive pavilion, a stage for concerts and movie nights, walking trails, greenspace and a giant playground that offers enrichment to the special needs community.

“The park has been packed,” said Hannah Miller, the Therapeutic and Community Programs Coordinator for Goose Creek. “I think everyone is a bit surprised about having this kind of resource. Everybody jokes we don’t have enough parking spaces. You pull up there in the morning and everyone is playing pickle ball, or getting an early start on the playground.”

And it’s not just early in the day, Central Creek Park is busy both day and night because there is such a variety of things to do.

“Then you drive by in the evening and the basketball courts are packed. I don’t have exact numbers but we have a few hundred different parking spaces and they are practically always full,” said Miller.

The $9.5 million park was built with the help of major donors and the business community. The spot is for everyone of any age or ability.

“We get a lot of compliments about how beautiful it is and how well it was organized and about how well it’s running,” she said. “We get a lot of thanks and a lot of praise for like, ‘My children haven’t always been considered so now they have a place they can go and feel safe and have a place to play.’ It’s been all compliments which is kind of overwhelming.”

The park, on the old site of the old Casey Recreation Center, is not only popular with Goose Creek residents, those from outside the city have been arriving as well.

“Not a day goes by that somebody is like, we drove here from North Charleston or we drove here from Summerville. It is really an attraction point and people are utilizing it,” said Miller. “It’s been a joy to have in the community, it’s been an honor to work there and be a part of the project. I think it’s going to be a staple for really long time to come.”

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCBD) – A $50 million investment could soon bring new businesses to an area of Goose Creek being referred to as the uptown development.

Goose Creek Mayor Greg Habib said the development, which will be built on a property off Highway 17A in the Carnes Crossroads community, will be a huge opportunity for Goose Creek.

“I’ve said for a long time that we need to participate in our development, and we’re very fortunate to have partners in Urban Core Advisors Real Estate, who came to the folks out at Carnes Crossroads, and who came to us, and started talking about what they wanted to develop,” Mayor Habib said.

Leaders saw this as a chance to improve the city at a low cost.

“Offices down there, there are shops down there, there are restaurants and bars. Things like that,” he said.

Mayor Habib said the developer may even open a rooftop bar.

“We don’t have a walkable downtown area in the city of Goose Creek, and while this isn’t going to be the downtown, it is affectionately known now, and properly known, as uptown Carnes,” he said.

Goose Creek is partnering with a developer on the project.

“We have entered into a joint use agreement with them. We have committed $75,000 per year which makes up for part of the maintenance cost of that property,” Habib explained.

There is no upfront cost to the city, and the city council will be able to vote each year on whether to continue the agreement.

“And what it is going to be, because we partnered with them in a joint use agreement, is a walkable kind of downtown area with a great lawn in the middle. We can use that property as well to program, whether that be for a farmers’ market or in arts and craft show or concert.”

While he does not have an exact size for the great lawn, it will be larger than Hutchinson Square in Summerville and will be surrounded by businesses like Hutchinson Square.

The new uptown development is expected to open by early 2026.

Goose Creek’s new barrier-free Central Creek Park is tentatively scheduled for a Dec. 16 public opening, according to local public information officer Frank Johnson.

The new $9 million park site will consist of a 13-acre, all-abilities outdoor recreation facility that is reportedly benefitting from the generosity of community-based donors.

These monetary contributions, it was noted, will help pay for some of the innovative equipment and featured for the open space, located at 147 Old Moncks Corner Road.

“We launched our We All Rise capital campaign late last year and have been pleasantly surprised and extremely grateful for the outpouring of financial support,” said Mayor Gregory Habib. “This giving level speaks volumes about our community’s commitment to ensuring inclusivity.”

The barrier-free components of Central Creek Park will serve visitors of all ages and abilities and they include: Debra’s Playground, Splash Creek, a field, stage area, a walking trail, the Eubanks Athletic Courts and the Casey Pavilion, sponsored by Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

“I hope the Roper St. Francis Casey Pavilion will be a place for residents of all ages to gather for health, wellness, fitness, and fellowship,” said Roper President & CEO Dr. Jeffrey DiLisi. “We are proud to be a part of this growing and vibrant community, both by supporting spaces, such as this, as well as providing exceptional care at sites across the county. We hope this special Pavilion serves the community for decades to come, and we look forward to continuing to partner with and care for Goose Creek.”

Jeff Lewis Architect, Trident Construction, The LandPlan Group South, Carolina Parks & Play, Landscape Structures and Rain Drop have all been commissioned by the City of Goose Creek to assure residents that the park will operate as a safe and friendly venue for all community members.

The aforementioned companies have produced and approved designs to facilitate wheelchair access across multiple areas of the park, along with swings, a zipline and several Splash Creek water-play features, such as: Mr. Claw Crab, the Pirate Cannon and the Big Kahuna Wave.

Park, play and exercise structures and/or amenities have been built to accommodate people of varying sizes, postures and mobility ranges in the interest of providing the highest of physical challenges while keeping hazards at a minimum.

It’s a sentiment that Goose Creek Recreation Director Crystal Reed wholeheartedly endorses.

“Central Creek Park is a testament to how important a universal-access culture is to the citizens of Goose Creek,” she said. “Our community stepped up in a big way to help create a world-class outdoor recreation space for everyone, regardless of age or ability.“

Project partner/supporter and CEO-President of Goose Creek Heating & Air Robbie Wright added: “We are honored and delighted to support such a game-changing community centerpiece as Central Creek Park. [It’s] a welcome addition to an already vibrant culture, the park will make fitness, play, awareness, and exposure to new opportunities accessible to all. Goose Creek Heating and Air is proud to play a small part in this extraordinary endeavor.”

The recreation destination’s footprint will be able to handle more than 600 individuals at a time and ensures that no one is excluded from the joys derived from outdoor play, promises Goose Creek Assistant Recreation Director Nicole Herrera Murray.

On that note, Murray believes that the new park will emerge as “the heartbeat of our community.”

Private donations made to the park were in excess of $1.3 million, which comprised leadership gifts, naming opportunities and a long list of Friends of the Park.

Notable gifts include:

• Casey Pavilion, Made Possible by Roper St. Francis Healthcare

• Early Childhood Playground, Made Possible by Berkeley County

• School-Age Playground, Made Possible by Boeing

• Splash Creek, Made Possible by Berkeley County

• Park Office, Made Possible by Goose Creek Heating & Air

• Field & Stage, Made Possible by Home Telecom

• Walking Trail, Made Possible by Berkeley Electric Cooperative & Trident Construction

• Community Trail, Made Possible by Mungo Homes

• Eubanks Athletic Courts, Made Possible by Goose Creek Recreation Commission

There is still time to support the park with a general donation or sponsor a Tribute Bench in honor or memory of someone special. A gift of $1,500 reserves the right to honor or memorialize an individual, group, or organization with an inscribed plaque that will be placed on a park bench. To learn more about dedicating a park bench or donating, visit https://www.cognitoforms.com/CityOfGooseCreek1/ParkDonations.

For information on Central Creek Park, visit www.cityofgoosecreek.com/centralcreekpark.

GOOSE CREEK — Lydia Wright squealed and giggled uncontrollably as her brother Michael pushed her on a swing at Central Creek Park in Goose Creek.

The 4-year-old, who has epilepsy, was belted securely in the swing by a plastic harness designed to hold children in place as they fly through the air.

Lydia’s family was one of the first families to use the city’s new 13-acre Central Creek Park, a barrier-free park and playground designed to accommodate everyone, including children and adults with disabilities. That was important for her parents, Rob and Bethany Wright, who say it’s extremely hard to find activities that accommodate their 22-year-old daughter Lissy, who has autism.

“We have been driving all the way to downtown Charleston” from their home in Cane Bay to participate in the city’s inclusive parks and rec activities, said Bethany Wright. “And when COVID came on, they stopped all their programming.”

The new Goose Creek park’s playground includes wheelchair-accessible swings, equipment designed to aid people with sensory processing issues and other features that appeal to “kids of all abilities,” said Mayor Greg Habib.

The park officially opened to the public on Dec. 16 after nine months of construction. Habib said it was a community effort — more than $1.3 million of the total $9.5 million cost came from private donations.

Hannah Miller, the city’s therapeutic recreation coordinator, and Nicole Herrera Murray, assistant recreation director, both advocated strongly for inclusive playground equipment.

“A lot of the pieces are intentional,” Miller said. “Like, we have a seesaw that you can put a wheelchair in. You can wheel somebody up so that they can experience the motion that you wouldn’t typically find at another park.”

While still not widespread, inclusive parks are becoming more common throughout the Lowcountry. Both North Charleston and Summerville opened playgrounds for children with disabilities in the spring, and North Charleston is working on a $5 million, 50,000-square-foot recreational space accessible for both children and adults.

Last month, Moncks Corner opened its long-awaited Home Telecom Miracle League baseball field, an inclusive, wheelchair-accessible field for the town’s Miracle League team to play sports. The field’s grand opening was attended by baseball fans throughout the Lowcountry. Like Central Creek Park, the $1.5 million project was funded partially by donations.

“We are excited about having our first season this spring,” said Moncks Corner Recreation Director Becky Ellison in an email to The Post and Courier.

The movement goes beyond the Lowcountry to other parts of the state. Greenville has several parks accessible for those with disabilities. The newest, Unity Park, opened in May with features like smooth, wheelchair-friendly turf, supportive swings with extra straps and interactive elements to the toddler playground, said Loren Thomas, the city’s multimedia communications specialist.

“Unity Park was really about bringing everyone together and giving everyone a place to play, a place to fellowship, a place to just enjoy the city of Greenville,” Thomas said. “Part of that was making sure the playgrounds, which are going to be a feature of the park, were accessible to all and inclusive to all.”

Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb, who attended the openings of both the Miracle League field and Central Creek Park, said it’s exciting to see places that everyone, regardless of age or ability, can enjoy.

“I look at this park, it’s like cradle to grave,” he said. “It’s (for the) really, really young, all the way up to old, and everyone in between.”

Goose Creek Parks Director Crystal Reed said the city worked closely with the special needs community and the rest of the public when designing Central Creek Park. The parks and recreation department already has a therapeutics program in which children and adults with disabilities participate in bowling, dance, music, art and fishing. Lissy Wright and her family has participated in the program for several years.

“When we started those programs, we started getting connected with a lot of the day programs in the area that serve a lot of the adults, and we started working closer with the schools, you know, their special education programs,” Reed said. “It’s really this close-knit community ... We feel like we got a lot of feedback from these groups as we started planning and we have sessions where we kind of were able to hear what the public wanted, what our community needed.”

The park also fits into a larger push by Goose Creek to expand its recreation and entertainment options as the city’s population and surrounding area grows. Last year, John McCants Veterans Memorial Park opened on Anita Drive, and the city has plans to break ground on a $4 million amphitheater behind the municipal center in April.

“I want to create as many opportunities for people to leave their home, go where other people are and have fellowship with one another,” Habib said. “I believe that’s how you build community. That’s how a hometown is built.”

Deborah Grace is a newcomer to the city, having recently moved from West Ashley, and said she thinks the park as a whole will be a great place for the city to hold events that she can take her family to.

“It’s just unique,” said Grace. “And I don’t think there’s any other park around the area like it that I have seen even in the tri-county area.”

In addition to the two playgrounds, Central Creek Park includes eight pickleball courts, a basketball court, a volleyball court, a food truck court, a splash pad that will open late next spring, a field and stage, and half-mile walking trail around the perimeter. The park also has the Casey Pavilion, where the city expects to hold events like farmers markets, craft fairs, movie nights and concerts if the weather is too rainy to hold them on the stage.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control recorded over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases reported March 19-25, and nine new deaths related to the virus.

Statewide numbers

New cases reported: 2,026

Total cases in S.C.: 1,842,519

New deaths reported: 9

Total deaths in S.C.: 19,684

Percent of ICU beds filled (with COVID-19 and other patients): 66.75 percent

Percent positive: 8.3 percent

S.C. residents vaccinated

As of March 28 in South Carolina, 62.2 percent of people who are eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose, and 54 percent of eligible residents are considered fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

These numbers reflect all eligible residents in South Carolina, including young children. The latest data from DHEC shows 23.6 percent of children ages 5-11 have at least one vaccine dose and 5.3 percent among those under age 5.

Hospitalizations

Of the 146 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of March 28, 20 were in the ICU. DHEC no longer reports ventilator usage among hospital patients as of Dec. 20.

What do experts say?

State health officials continue to urge residents to get vaccinated and boosted if eligible against COVID-19 to curb the spread of the virus.

GOOSE CREEK — The Goose Creek Gators reeled in their fourth straight region championship last week, and added the city championship to their 2022 resume Friday night.

Overcoming a handful of turnovers and other gaffes, the Gators maintained possession of the Golden Goose trophy with a 25-20 victory at rival Stratford at Ray Stackley Field on Oct. 28.

The win was the second straight in the series and 13th in 16 meetings for the Gators (4-6), who completed a clean sweep of all four Region 6-AAAAA foes after starting off 0-5. It wasn’t the best version of the Gators, but their performance was enough to head into the Class AAAAA playoffs with some momentum.

Gators coach Jason Winstead knows his bunch has plenty to work on in practice starting Monday.

“We always tell our kids there are three parts to the season,” Winstead said. “Our first part didn’t go great, but we were 4-0 in the region and that’s what you aim for in part two. Now, it’s time for the most important part. Tonight wasn’t always pretty but you knew (Stratford) coach Dennie McDaniel would have his guys ready.”

The Gators open the playoffs at home Nov. 4 against West Ashley, a tough squad from Region 7-AAAAA.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Winstead said. “They’re coming over to our place with a 7-3 record. Their defense is really good. We better be playing our best football.”

Stratford dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the region. The Knights had possession down one score with 3:08 left at their own 20 and moved up toward midfield with under two minutes left before coming up just short on a fourth-and-4 with 1:35 remaining.

The Gators knelt down twice to run out the clock.

Goose Creek senior quarterback Drew Moore endured a wild night, throwing three touchdowns to receiver Davion Malloy and running for another score, but also heaving four interceptions. Three of the picks came in the first quarter and Stratford capitalized on two to lead 14-6, but Moore settled down and played better the rest of the way.

“Drew had a rough first quarter,” Winstead said. “Two of those were batted balls on our part but nice plays by Stratford. We’re going to ride with Drew.”

The Gators were fortunate to lead, 18-14, at the break after Stratford picked off those four passes. The Knights were on the verge of taking an advantage into the break, marching more than 70 yards in the closing minutes of the second quarter following Brenden Carter’s second interception.

Instead, Knights quarterback Jachin Davis lost a fumble at the Gators’ 2 with under a minute remaining in the second quarter and Gators defensive back Gabe White was there to recover.

Stratford received the opening kickoff of the second half, but was forced to punt and Goose Creek went 75 yards in eight plays to extend its advantage at the 7:59 mark of the third quarter. Moore’s 11-yard touchdown connection to Malloy and Maya Gonzalez’s extra point made it, 25-14.

The Knights didn’t go away, though, pulling within 25-20 on Davis’s 20-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jalen Barry on the second play of the fourth quarter. Gators defensive back Troy Reid knocked down the pass on the 2-point conversion to keep the lead at five.

Stratford had three more chances on the way in but couldn’t break back on top. The Gators came up with a fumble recovery at their own 18 with 9:28 left to stymie the Knights’ best chance to take the lead.

“I’m really proud of our defense and coaches to finish the way we did,” Winstead said. “We’ve had some moments where we didn’t play very well on that side of the ball this year. They stepped up tonight.”

In the first quarter, Stratford converted Moore’s first interception into a 3-yard touchdown run by Darrell Holmes less than two minutes in and had another opportunity following Carter’s first interception, but punted through the end zone.

The Gators dented the scoreboard for the first time on their second drive, going 80 yards to score on Moore’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Malloy. Running back Meliq McGowan’s 38-yard run was a key play on the drive. However, the extra point clanked off the left upright and Stratford led, 7-6, with 5:01 remaining in the opening period.

Stratford wasn’t done picking off passes, though, and turned Moore’s third interception into a 20-yard scoring drive following a Jaden Washington pick. Tim Lloyd’s 3-yard run and Matt Haas extra point put the Knights up, 14-6, at the 1:54 mark of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Gators scored on drives of 75 and 80 yards to go up, 18-14, and never trailed again. Neither 2-point conversion was good. Moore’s 1-yard run capped the shorter one and a 38-yard strike to Malloy with 7:29 remaining in the half gave the Gators their first lead.