City of Charleston announces Joe Riley Waterfront Park rededication ceremony, new enhancements
March 14, 2018
The City of Charleston announced a public celebration to rededicate Charleston’s Waterfront Park in honor of former Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. by officially renaming the park to Joe Riley Waterfront Park. The event will take place April 28, 2018 on the park’s Vendue Plaza and include remarks from Mayor John Tecklenburg and former Mayor Riley as well as a special performance by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.
“Waterfront Park is where we find the fullest realization of Mayor Riley’s vision, the truest expression of the ideas and ideals that guided him through forty years of public service,” said John J. Tecklenburg, Mayor of Charleston. “That’s why this renaming of Waterfront Park is so appropriate, and such a fitting tribute to his extraordinary legacy.”
Charleston City Council voted in 2016 to rename the park to honor Riley’s central role in creating the City’s most visited park. Since then, the Charleston Parks Conservancy and the City have undertaken a project to recognize the park’s new name with commemorative elements that will be unveiled during the April 28 event and reflect the former mayor’s dedication to parks and public spaces.
Soon after taking office in 1975, Mayor Riley began plans to transform a neglected waterfront area from burned out wharves and gravel parking lots into a public park. The City broke ground on the project in 1988 and opened it to the public in 1990. Designed by Stuart O. Dawson of Sasaki and Associates, the park has been commended over the years as a blueprint for public parks, receiving numerous awards, including the 2007 Landmark Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The new elements in the park honoring Riley were also designed by Sasaki and Associates, led by Mark Dawson, son of the park’s original designer.
Lowe is a major sponsor of the rededication project and is planning an expansion of the park in conjunction with the construction of a full-service hotel at 176 Concord St. on the current site of the South Carolina State Ports Authority offices. Plans for the that project include extending the Joe Riley Waterfront Park’s riverwalk by approximately 400 feet, starting at the site of the park’s north entrance on Concord St and ending at Cumberland St. The project will also enlarge dock access facilities from a single water taxi dock drop-off to a day dock facility for the public. Lowe will break ground in January 2019 and plans to complete the project by early 2021.
“It was the vision of Mayor Riley that created Waterfront Park and together with all Charlestonians we at Lowe pledge our best efforts in achieving the next phase of Mayor Riley’s dream, the continued expansion of the park providing additional public access to Charleston’s waterfront,” said Dan Battista, Lowe’s senior vice president of development in Charleston.
Stay up to date on details about the park dedication ceremony at the event’s Facebook page.
About Charleston Parks Conservancy
The Charleston Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the people of Charleston to connect with their parks and together create stunning public places and a strong community. Founded in 2007, the Charleston Parks Conservancy unites local resources, leverages support and organizes volunteers to be stewards of Charleston’s urban parks. The Charleston Parks Conservancy believes that parks contribute to a higher quality of life, and better parks build stronger communities. To learn more, visit www.charlestonparksconservancy.org.
About Lowe
Lowe is a diversified national real estate company active in commercial, hospitality and residential property investment, development and management that seeks to build value in real estate by creating innovative and lasting environments in which people live, work and play. Lowe has developed $2 billion of hospitality properties, including Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms South Carolina, Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Stowe Mountain Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, and the Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington. Through its hospitality management subsidiary, Two Roads Hospitality, Lowe currently oversees the management of 18,000 hotel rooms/units and 95 properties in 8 countries.
