AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF) – The City of Aiken held a public meeting on Saturday to discuss renovations to the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center and Park at 416 Kershaw St. NE.
NewsChannel 6 spoke with city leaders and nonprofit groups beforehand about the plans.
Funding has been secured, plans have been approved, and public hearings have been had to upgrade the 60-year-old park.
“A lot of the amenities are in need of improvements – the basketball courts, tennis courts, the walking track,” said Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh.
Right now, renovations are being done to the recreation center, but not the external park.
Bedenbaugh said they’ve received pushback from some people because the renovation plan calls for the removal of 68 trees.
But after everything is said and done, he said there will be more trees in the city than there were originally.
“The trees that are marked at the park are trees that are staying. We’re replanting approximately twenty-one trees on the park site,” Bedenbaugh said. “We will be planting sixty-eight trees within the immediate vicinity of the park. And I know folks worry about loss of trees, by the time tree planting season is over, we will have planted over two-hundred trees in the city.”