News

County hires landscape architects to design Berkeley Park sportsplex

Jason A. Bertoncino, a representative from the WithersRavenel engineering firm, discusses plans for the Berkeley Mills Sports Complex during a special called meeting of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

By Amy McCraw, Published: August 22, 2024

Henderson County commissioners voted Tuesday to hire an engineering firm to draw up plans for the Berkeley Mills Sports Complex.

Despite Commissioner Daniel Andreotta saying numerous unknowns were causing a “little bit of indigestion,” the board voted unanimously to award a $750,000 contract to North Carolina-based WithersRavenel landscape architects to design the sports complex.
Commissioners voted 3-2 earlier this month to make Berkeley Mills Park the home of four artificial turf soccer fields and, potentially, a softball diamond and tennis courts for prep athletics.
The project faces a tight deadline because a $9½ million federal American Rescue Plan grant that’s funding it must be obligated by Dec. 31.
At the start, the county plans three regulation-size soccer fields and a smaller youth field plus rest rooms. As a condition for transferring the 39-acre site to the county, the School Board asked for the county commission’s commitment to add a softball field and tennis courts for Hendersonville High School when the money comes available. HHS has neither facility on its land-locked campus.
Tuesday’s vote came after commissioners heard from WithersRavenel growth officer Jason A. Bertoncino about the timeline and plans for the sports complex.
The firm, which also employs former Laurel Park town manager Alison Alexander, plans to award contracts for work on the project by the end of the year with a completion by the summer of 2026, he said.
As the project progresses and engineers learn more from individual contractors, changes to the plan might be required, he said.
“We will have to adapt to any constraints as the data comes in,” Bertoncino said.

‘Everybody’s on the same page’

The board also called on School Board Chairman Jay Egolf to speak after some commissioners expressed concerns about the school board’s commitment to the project.
Commission Vice Chairman Michael Edney said he listened Monday’s school board meeting and heard the board’s concerns about making sure the softball field and tennis courts are added to the complex at some point.
“It sounds like everybody is on the same page. We just need to get it moving,” Edney said.
But Andreotta said he was concerned that the school board had not acted to transfer title to the property at Monday’s meeting. Easements from Hendersonville must also be secured to move forward with the project; the city owns part of the adjoining property.
“I don’t think we are all saying the same thing,” Andreotta said. “A lot of money will disappear in the grading and site work. I’m getting a little bit of indigestion.”
Egolf told commissioners the school board intends to transfer the title once details are worked out between attorneys and the three parties: the School Board, County Commission and City Council.

Would facilities be Bearcat red?

Both School Board members and commissioners have alluded to potential donors to support HHS athletics. County Manager John Mitchell said after Tuesday’s meeting that the county has heard from a number of potential donors about providing some funding for the project.
With HHS alumni potentially providing funding for portions of the sports complex, Andreotta asked Egolf if there was a plan to have all the facilities painted Bearcat red.
“This would be county property for the school system to use,” Egolf responded.
Mitchell said after the meeting attorneys and staff will be meeting soon to begin coming up with an agreement to address how to best transfer the property to the county.
Commission Chairwoman Rebecca McCall said the county could vote on the interlocal agreement as soon as Sept. 3.
The Board of Commissioners action on Tuesday came one day after the School Board met and made a minor change to a letter it sent last month committing to the property transfer. The School Board’s letter on July 25 had expressed support for the master plan drawn by WGLA Engineering. Since the county planned to hire a different firm (and did so the next day) the board deleted the reference a WGLA-drawn plan.
School Board member Blair Craven said as long as the softball field and tennis courts are built the School Board did not have a preference for which design-engineering firm the county hired.
Schools Superintendent Mark Garrett reported that he had met with county officials.
“One update I can provide to the board and the public is they have communicated with us that they want to work with us,” he said. “I shared that the ‘where’ of everything is not a concern of the board. It’s just that we have those components” for prep sports.
With the one change in the letter agreeing to transfer the property to the Board of Commissioners, Craven described the project as “full steam ahead.”