The City of North Charleston began facility improvements at the Murray Hill Community Center with a groundbreaking on Friday, October 4, 2013.
The improvements include a new press box and concession stand with restrooms to accompany the existing multipurpose baseball/softball/football field at the location. The project will enhance the ongoing Recreation Department athletic programs at the Murray Hill Community Center.
The $375,000 project is expected to be completed in March 2014.
The City of North Charleston will host its annual Veterans Day tribute on Monday, November 12, 2012 from 10:30 am – 1:00 pm at Park Circle. We ask veterans and the public to join Mayor R. Keith Summey and City Council in this special ceremony. Last year, over 500 veterans in attendance were honored.
All veterans in attendance will be recognized and will receive a specially designed commemorative coin. To receive a coin, Veterans are urged to RSVP no later than October 25 to (843) 740-5801, (843) 745-1028 or via email at cdambaugh@northcharleston.org.
Lieutenant Colonel Vernon F. Lightner will be the event’s keynote speaker. A native of Great Falls, South Carolina, Lt. Col. Lightner graduated Livingstone College in 1991 and subsequently received a commission in the US Army Military Police Corps. He has served in a variety of leadership positions from platoon leader to battalion commander, most recently serving as the Director of Emergency Services at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Lt. Col. Lightner served in several operational deployments, including Operation Intrinsic Action in Kuwait, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, and two tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. He currently serves in the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army, as the Regional Director, Southeastern Region, for the Soldier for Life Office.
Prior to the ceremony, from 9:30 am – 10:30 am, a story swap will be held in the Felix Davis Community Center. Veterans will have an open opportunity to share memories and stories about their service with fellow veterans. The story swap is open to the public. Veterans wishing to speak should RSVP to (843) 740-5850.
Outback Steakhouse is once again sponsoring lunch for all of the event’s attendees. Outback has sponsored the event for four consecutive years.
The North Charleston Fire Department will hold a traditional wet-down ceremony for an Engine and a Heavy Rescue that has joined the fleet on Monday, June 11, 2012 at 1:00pm at the North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum. Both trucks will operate from Fire Station #7 on Leeds Avenue and will replace a 1995 Engine and a 2002 Heavy Rescue.
A wet-down ceremony is a traditional welcome for a fire apparatus or station. The tradition originated in historic east coast fire departments when changing out old fire pumpers for the new. The horses would be unhitched and water was transferred to the new apparatus. It would then be dried off and pushed into the stall for service.
North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey and City Council Members cut the ribbon to the newly completed Green Grove Community Center, located at 2634 Bennett Yard Road.
With the facility's opening, it will became the City's 19th community center to come online. The City's 20th community center is currently under construction on Dorchester Road and is scheduled to open later in the spring.
Green Grove Community Center will be utilized for neighborhood association meetings, afterschool programming, senior activities, and will serve as a summer camp site.
The City of North Charleston hosted its annual Veterans Day tribute on Friday, November 11, 2011 from at Park Circle with keynote speaker Colonel Frank S. Taylor. Over 500 veterans in attendance were honored.
The Department of Defense and the National Committee for Veterans Day selected North Charleston as a Regional Site for Veterans Day 2011. North Charleston is the only regional site in the State of South Carolina.
Major Joe Lysaght of the 3rd BDE South Carolina State Guard, gives the History of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ten year old Tre' Williams reads his essay on what it means to be a veteran.
In Spring 2013, city of North Charleston residents will begin playing ball at Wescott Park, a new state of the art sports complex with a Ripken Training Facility, which broke ground on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 10:00 am. The 48-acre park will be located behind Fire Station 11 at 9002 Dorchester Road.
Each of the three ball fields at Wescott Park have been designed differently to scale of Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park, Atlanta Braves’ Turner Field, and San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park. The field in the image of Boston’s Fenway Park will even feature the “Green Monster.” Each field will be equipped for baseball and softball for athletes 12 years old and under.
A Ripken Training Circle, patented by Cal and Bill Ripken, will be incorporated into the facility for instruction and practice of our rising baseball players. The design of the Circle allows for bases and home plates to be substituted for teaching of fundamentals and drills, maximizing the efficiency of instruction. To complete the park as a Ripken Training Facility, batting cages and pitching mounds will be incorporated.
Apart from being a sports complex, Wescott Park will feature passive areas for visitors to enjoy, including an amphitheater for outdoor performances, greenspaces and multi-purpose fields, walking trails through the park’s wetlands, and a number of enclosed and open air shelters for a variety of community and family events.
In cooperation with our school partners, the park will have a direct connection to Fort Dorchester Elementary School. With a direct pathway in close proximity to the school, Wescott Park will add to the recreational opportunities for Fort Dorchester’s students and teachers.
Fire Station 5 was recently dedicated to long-serving Council Member Phoebe Miller. The station on lower Dorchester Road is the city of North Charleston's newest, opening its doors on February 18, 2011. It houses an engine and a ladder truck with a total of eight crew members each day.
North Charleston Fire Chief Greg Bulanow, North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, and Council Member Phoebe Miller participated in the ceremony.
The City of North Charleston broke ground on its newest community center located adjacent to Doorway Baptist Church on Thursday, September 15, 2011.
Dorchester Road Community Center will become North Charleston’s 20th community center. The center will be utilized for neighborhood association meetings, afterschool programming, senior activities, and will be a summer camp site.
Mayor Summey stated, “We are proud to begin construction on the latest addition to our inventory of community centers that dot the City. This center is a terrific expansion of recreational and civic services offered to the citizens of our city and will help us meet the needs of the growing population of the upper Dorchester Road corridor.”
The 4,400 sq ft facility is expected to be completed in the Spring 2012.
On Tuesday, July 26, officials from multiple jurisdictions in Charleston County gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony for the future building planned to house the County's Consolidated 9-1-1 Center and Emergency Operations Center. The new structure, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2013, will enable the full consolidation of 9-1-1 and emergency dispatch operations in Charleston County, and will also serve as the new location for the County’s Emergency Operations Center.
An Intergovernmental Agreement signed in January 2008 joins all local jurisdictions within Charleston County in the plan toward consolidating 9-1-1 and dispatch services. Steps toward consolidation have already been taken, with some jurisdictions opting for early consolidation into the current center located in the County’s Lonnie Hamilton, III Public Services Building in North Charleston. The remaining jurisdictions plan to transition their dispatchers to the new Consolidated 9-1-1 Center once it is completed.
“Consolidation benefits the public by providing dispatchers the ability to talk directly to each other as they are handling emergency calls requiring multi-jurisdictional response, ultimately reducing response times and saving lives,” said Charleston County Consolidated Dispatch Board Chairman Jon Zumalt, who is also the North Charleston Police Chief.
The early consolidation of some jurisdictions into the current 9-1-1 center was a move fully supported by the Consolidated Dispatch Board. Consolidation is already proving to offer many benefits, including:
New efficiencies allow a call taker to remain on the line with the caller to gather more information and to provide additional scene safety or medical instructions while responders are being sent by a separate dispatcher.
Faster response times are documented.
Interoperability and cooperation among response agencies is enhanced.
Delays and dropped calls due to the transferring of calls to other agencies are reduced.
“The new Consolidated 9-1-1 Center will have many advantages, including the latest in 9-1-1 technology and a better working environment for the Call Takers and Dispatchers that will help them continue providing excellent service under increasing responsibilities,” Lake said. “This building has also been designed for potential growth.”
In addition to 9-1-1 and emergency dispatch operations in Charleston County, the new center will be the location of the County’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), which is also currently located at the County’s Lonnie Hamilton, III Public Services Building in North Charleston. During large, complex incidents, the EOC assumes a coordination role. As an incident expands in size or increases in complexity, central coordination is needed and is provided by the EOC.
“Information from incident commanders is relayed from the Consolidated 9-1-1 Center to the EOC following the occurrence of a disaster, so having both functions under one roof will result in increased efficiency,” said Jason Patno, Charleston County’s Emergency Management Department Director. “Also, staff mandated to work during an emergency incident, such as a hurricane, will benefit from the safety component that the new building will offer.”
FACTS ABOUT THE NEW 9-1-1 AND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER:
Location: 8500 Palmetto Commerce Parkway, North Charleston, S.C.
Size: approximately 38,000 square feet.
Estimated opening date: spring 2013.
Facility: two-story structure with backup electrical, water and sewer to ensure continuous operation.
“Green” features: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification goal, rainwater collection, water efficient landscaping and use of recycled materials.
Approved budget: $26,780,000.
Safety: the building is designed to be occupied during disasters, with the ability to withstand winds of 191 mph and resist earthquake forces. The first floor will be at elevation 49 feet, which is outside of the 500 year flood plain.
