Cleveland Park Greenville, South Carolina

Services Provided

Master Planning
Public Engagement

People Involved

Darren Meyer
Donald Zellefrow
Haoting Shi

Envisioning a city historic park’s future with comprehensive community and stakeholder input

MKSK led a multidisciplinary master planning effort for the City of Greenville’s historic 126-acre Cleveland Park. As part of the planning process, MKSK conducted extensive community engagement, including dozens of client, stakeholder, and public meetings. These meetings included workshops with residents of adjacent neighborhoods, a council-appointed project advisory committee, and city staff. The result of this project is a community-driven vision for the future of a beloved park that centers on three core themes.

Build on Strengths: This is an effort to build on the park’s strengths by protecting, preserving, and enhancing its existing character and amenities. These include safeguarding the park’s historic structures and stonework, conserving its urban forest and mature hardwood canopy, and undertaking streambank restoration efforts along the river and streams that course through the park.

Create a Heart: This is an incremental plan to develop a central “heart” of the park by creating a signature feature at the confluence of its waterways and safely connecting a future entrance to the Greenville Zoo (which is situated within the park) to new public amenities, including a playground, educational gardens, gathering spaces, trails, and water access points.

Connect Community: This is a long-term initiative to establish stronger connections between Cleveland Park and its adjacent neighborhoods (including a historically African-American neighborhood that was intentionally denied any connection to the park when it was originally built), the regional Swamp Rabbit Trail and its future connections, and Greenville’s award-winning Downtown.