A gift of nearly $100,000 from Upstate-based BMW Manufacturing Co. will help pay for the development of a visitor and environmental education center at Paris Mountain State Park, one of South Carolina's oldest state parks, located a few miles north of Greenville.
The gift, handed to Governor Mark Sanford from BMW Manufacturing representatives during the Governor's Conference on Tourism and Travel, completes a public-private partnership that has been underway for more than two years with Greenville leaders and park officials developing strategies, heightening public interest and raising money for the project.
"This partnership is significant and astonishing, and fits well within my plans for improving the quality of life in South Carolina," said Governor Sanford. "We are grateful to BMW Manufacturing for their commitment and continued support of South Carolina, its people and its special places."
Joining Gov. Sanford at the presentation were Bobby Hitt of BMW Manufacturing Co., Chad Prosser, the governor's director designee for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, and leaders and directors of the South Carolina State Park Service.
"We admire efforts that preserve and protect South Carolina's natural and cultural heritage," Hitt said. "We think public education and involvement is a big part of that effort. We are proud to support a project that helps educate South Carolinians on the importance of protecting our environment, while at the same time helping to preserve a unique and beautiful gathering place that has been a part of many South Carolinians lives for over a century."
The money will be used to convert the historic stone bathhouse at Paris Mountain, which is currently used as a changing room for park swimmers, into an education center that will serve as an outdoor classroom for the Park Service's curriculum-based Discover Carolina program. The center will focus on the value of the park's extraordinary natural community – 1,275 acres of forested watershed atop an isolated mountain – that has been protected since 1890 when the Greenville Water System established its first reservoir.
The Civilian Conservation Corps built Paris Mountain State Park on reservoir property in the mid-1930s. Like other C.C.C. structures around the nation, the bathhouse was built with natural material found at its location; in this case, mountain stones found during the process of cutting roads and preparing the land for the park. A dry-stack stone exterior graces the bathhouse. Wormy chestnut interior walls complement the historic design.
Tentative architectural plans call for those historic elements to be preserved.
"We will do our part in this partnership by moving forward with plans to renovate the historic bathhouse at Paris Mountain," Prosser said. "With the input and considerable support of the business, government and education community here in Greenville, we think we are ready to share the story of Paris Mountain in a comprehensive, strategic manner."
The gift from BMW Manufacturing completes a two-year process of public meetings and research among business, education and government leaders in the Greenville community, including lawyers, architects, city and county government, Furman University, Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) officials, and the school districts of Greenville County.
The cooperative efforts defined the park's value, heightened public awareness about the park, and eventually led to the donation of 260 acres on the northwest side of the mountain by the Greenville Water System in the year 2001.
For additional information about Paris Mountain, contact the park at 864-244-5565.