CHESTER, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Wylie Park has been in Chester’s community for decades and is a place where family and residents gather. It’s recently shut down for some renovations that will be much more inclusive for those in the area.
Chester County’s Wylie Park is getting a major renovations. Several community organizations have donated time and more than $150,000 to make this space ADA friendly.
The Wylie Park project’s manager, Angela Douglas, says, “We want to make sure everyone feels included and that’s why it’s been so important to have an ADA compliant park.”
Wylie Park has been a hub in Chester’s community for years. Now, leaders say the park, already used by so many, will be more inclusive for kids and older adults.
Chester’s Director of Parks and Recreation, Chris White, says, “This is actually the most utilized park in the city. When we do our summer camp, our summer camp kids are housed here — you’ve got different communities out here at Mill Street, Brooklyn, just the west end communities, everybody utilizes this park. So, it was huge to get these renovations done.”
Leaders from First Citizen’s Bank in Chester and GAF say they are a proud community partner and projects like this one, take a village.
Chester’s First Citizen’s Bank’s Brenda McBrayer, says, “We’ve always been told at First Citizens bank, we don’t just come into an area and take stuff out, we give back and we give back with funds and we give back with community service.”
GAF’s Mark McAteer, says, “Our brand promise is that we protect what matters most and that extends beyond the four walls of a house or a business where we provide key roofing, to protect the family and assets and things of that nature — but, it also extends out in the community. We want to be good corporate citizens and help out in any way we can.”
After months of work going into this new space, the final touches are being made to prepare for a grand opening event this Saturday. Leaders say it doesn’t stop here.
“We want to encourage other people to come out, take a look and see where they can get involved, like I said, community builds community. So, is it enough? No, it’s never enough for our residents, there’s never anything too good for them. So, but we do want them to come and see how they can make it go further and maybe some of the additional parks around the county will also be able to be upgraded because we started here,” says Douglas.
The community has come together to help make those changes and now CN2’s Rachel Richardson is speaking with leaders about the project.
