Summerville Journal Scene
Situated on Highway 17-A, south of Summerville, the 1,950-acre master planned community features a new Summerville YMCA wellness center has one of the major components to Dorchester County's largest planned development to date.
The YMCA broke ground 25,000 square-foot facility will feature:
• A wellness center with cardiovascular equipment and free weights
• Supervised playground and nursery for children
• Rooms for aerobics and other instructional programs
• A full-sized gymnasium with two full-length basketball courts
• Full service locker rooms and sauna for men, women and families
• Athletic recreation fields
• Organized sports and wellness programs for all ages
Greenwood Development, the developer of The Ponds, is giving the 10.5 acres, valued at approximately $1 million, and $3 million in cash toward the construction of the facility. The rest of the money, $1.5 million, will come from a YMCA capital fund-raising drive, 'Y' board president Richard Miler said will kick-off after the Flowertown Festival.
Miler says the community will start to see more visible signs of the capital campaign for the new facility after the Flowertown Festival. Corporate donations and individual donations, with membership benefits attached will be available and there will also be a gala to help raise the money.
The Ponds will have a civic corridor that beyond the YMCA will include a fire/EMS station and sheriff's substation, future K - 8 public school site, and a full-service Summerville Family YMCA. Greenwood Development is donating 40 acres of land for the school and $500,000 of the $1.2 million toward the cost of the Fire and EMS station.
Amidst the century-old oaks and cypress trees that sweep throughout the almost 2,000 acres of The Ponds community, there will be a 60-mile sidewalk, paths and trail system that is unlike any other in the Carolinas.
When completed, the system will include both urban and natural trails using a variety of surfaces including asphalt, concrete, plantation mix and natural materials. Residents will find "destinations" throughout the 60 miles including historical relics and the foremost tip of the Ashley River.
The Ponds Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization, is being created to govern and protect the 1,100 preserved acres of lush, natural landscape, along with programming, cultural, historic, and social community events.
The Ponds' first offering includes custom home lots priced from the low $100s. Single-family homes will be priced from the low $300s and are expected to be complete in early 2008. The first amenities complex, including a pool, outdoor amphitheatre, several neighborhood parks, a restored historic farmhouse and early stages of the 60-mile sidewalk, path and trail system connecting to The Ponds' 1,100-acre nature preserve will be complete in time for The Ponds' first residents.
Onsite sales cottage open daily. Information is also available online at DiscoverThePonds.com, or by calling 843.832.6100.
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