News

Leaders of city, county and schools break ground on Berkeley sportsplex

Breaking ground on the new $11.3 million were county commissioners Michael Edney (not shown), Rebecca McCall, Sheila Franklin and Jay Egolf, School Board member Blair Craven, county commission Chair Bill Lapsley, recreation director Bruce Gilliam, schools superintendent Mark Garrett and Recreation Advisory Board Chair Jeff Donaldson.

By Bill Moss, Published: March 31, 2025

Hailing the project as a model of interlocal cooperation, leaders of the city, county and public school system tossed shovels of dirt on Monday to mark the construction start of the Berkeley Park sportsplex, which will put four soccer fields, a softball diamond and tennis courts on the historic mill village land.

Developed originally in 1924 as Balfour Mills by Capt. Ellison Adger Smyth, the land was donated in 2008 to the city by the current plant operator, Kimberly Clark. The city swapped the land to the School Board in exchange for the School Board-owned Edwards Park, which the city needed for its minigolf park. The School Board in turn conveyed the land to the county, which appropriated American Rescue Plan money for the project. Expected to be done by September 2026, the sports complex will include four regulation-size artificial turf soccer fields, a softball diamond and six tennis courts.

“When the city acquired this property from Kimberly Clark, one of our main goals was to be sure that the baseball stadium was preserved as a historic structure,” Mayor Barbara Volk said. “We had some plans for what we’d like to do but we were never able to get the grants to do it. Probably that was a good thing, because now with the swapping with the School Board and then with the county commissioners, this is going to be even bigger and better than we had ever imagined.”

Schools Superintendent Mark Garrett also praised the three-way partnership among the city, county and school board that made the $11 million sportsplex possible.

“We're excited to see this coming to fruition,” he said. “We’re glad that we’re partners. When you look at what can happen when you don't care who gets the credit, this is one of those examples. We're proud to be a partner, and on behalf of our entire team we say, ‘Congratulations and get going.’”

will include four regulation-size artificial turf soccer fields, a softball diamond and six tennis courts.

“When the city acquired this property from Kimberly Clark, one of our main goals was to be sure that the baseball stadium was preserved as a historic structure,” Mayor Barbara Volk said. “We had some plans for what we’d like to do but we were never able to get the grants to do it. Probably that was a good thing, because now with the swapping with the School Board and then with the county commissioners, this is going to be even bigger and better than we had ever imagined.”

Schools Superintendent Mark Garrett also praised the three-way partnership among the city, county and school board that made the $11 million sportsplex possible.

“We're excited to see this coming to fruition,” he said. “We’re glad that we’re partners. When you look at what can happen when you don't care who gets the credit, this is one of those examples. We're proud to be a partner, and on behalf of our entire team we say, ‘Congratulations and get going.’”