Mount Pleasant Mayor Harry Hallman said in a special town council meeting last week that he would like to see a building in place of the dog park slated for the waterfront park.
Sometimes things don’t come out like you’d want them to and Hallman wants to set the record straight.
He said he is not proposing that the land be sold to a developer.
What Hallman would like to see on those four acres is a state of the art performing arts center that seats about 150.
“There’s been a lot of give and take and controversy surrounding that park,” Hallman said. “But I can assure you that nobody is in negotiations to sell anything to a developer. We’re talking about five acres of the most pristine property on the entire east coast. I am simply opposed to giving land like that away for a dogie park.”
Hallman said he hopes council will look into the life of that property and think about how much better suited it would be for a performing arts center.
“The Village Playhouse is sold out for several weeks in a row during each of their productions,” he said. “That’s because of lack of seating. Imagine if we had something that could seat 150 right there at the bridge, near the hotels. My vision for that property is not a dog park,” he said.
Hallman, who has two dogs and a cat of his own, said he has nothing against dogs. He feels that the citizens re owed some sort of first class performing arts center over a dog park.
He suggested that dog owners could utilize the Palmetto Island County Park’s dog park, which opened last year or the one on the Isle of Palms.
“I don’t think a municipality ought to feel obligated to provide one just because others have them. We’ve got to prioritize and see where are needs are.”
Hallman said as of now, no one is planning anything. “We’ve got plenty of time to put this on the shelf and talk about it when the time is right,” he said.
“But the cultural advantage it brings to Mount Pleasant is more the vision I had for that area — something a dog park does not bring with it.”