The Town of Fort Mill plans to break ground on a $25 million Operations Center at the corner of Banks Road and Sparkling Brook Parkway, a campus covering roughly 33 acres that will consolidate public works, utilities, fleet maintenance and other municipal functions now scattered across aging downtown buildings.
The project comes as Fort Mill continues to absorb rapid population growth that has stretched its existing facilities well past their original purpose. The town announced the plan in a public update and credited former state Rep. Raye Felder with helping advance the project.
A response to explosive growth
Fort Mill counted roughly 11,800 residents in 2011. Today the town is approaching 30,000, an increase of about 136 percent in just over a decade. Many of the crews that maintain streets, water lines and town vehicles still operate out of older properties downtown, including the 1938 armory near Elliott Street.
Town officials describe the new campus as an investment for the long term, designed to meet operational needs for the next 50 years.
What the campus will include
The site will hold an administration building of roughly 17,000 square feet, a fleet maintenance facility of about 14,000 square feet, and a warehouse of nearly 17,000 square feet. Plans also include almost 39,000 square feet of covered parking for vehicles and equipment, a dedicated vehicle wash building, and a covered fueling station.
The campus is intended to centralize functions currently split between several properties the town owns. Town officials said the consolidation will allow staff to share resources more efficiently and reduce the time spent moving people and equipment between sites. Residents, the announcement said, should see faster response times and more reliable service delivery once operations move in.
Project partners
The town named DP3 Architects as the project designer, GMC as project manager, and Hood Construction as the contractor handling the build.
The future of the armory site
Once town crews relocate to the new campus, the historic armory property near Elliott Street will become available for redevelopment. Town officials have not announced a specific reuse plan for the 1938 building, but its move out of municipal service opens the door to a different future for that downtown parcel.
Groundbreaking is expected soon, according to the town. Additional details on the construction timeline and any public ceremony tied to the start of work have not yet been released.
Source: Town of Fort Mill announcement, posted on the official Town of Fort Mill Facebook page.
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