Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park

The Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park was started in 1975 and opened May 4, 1979. It is located in downtown Beaufort, opposite Bay Street, includes seven landscaped acres and is named for Mayor Henry Chambers, who championed replacing abandoned docks with a park. Waterfront Park is one of the city's biggest attractions.

Construction

Beaufort's waterfront once was considered something of an eyesore — strewn with dilapidated docks and discared car tires — and most stores along Bay Street had few, if any, back windows or doors. From colonial times until the Charleston-to-Savannah railroad was completed on the eve of the Civil War, the water was Beaufort's link to the rest of the world, but over time, the water became less important to the city's livelihood. Cars and cheap gas brought suburbanization, and businesses followed out of town.

Willie Scheper, who was mayor of Beaufort from 1963-67, said saving downtown was on the minds of city leaders long before the waterfront park idea took hold. Originally, the plan was to fill enough marsh for an access road and additional parking behind the stores on Bay Street. However, plans never got much past the talking stage until Chambers took office in 1970. Chambers enlisted the fifth-year architectural class at Clemson University to design a master plan for the Beaufort waterfront. The plan was presented in 1972 and became the working model for downtown revitalization. The city then hired Robert E. Marvin of Walterboro, a nationally known landscape architect, to design a formal site plan, and the par became the centerpiece of Marvin's overall plan for the entire downtown business district. It included a 100-slip marina and store, pavilion, amphitheater, gardens, playground and farmers market.

Chambers' vision was criticized as a boondoggle by some, and money to fund the project was tight. Undaunted, the mayor enlisted Sen. Strom Thurmond to acquire federal grant and revenue-sharing money. Construction began in January 1975 and was completed four years later, at a cost of about $5.3 million.

The park's opening coincided with a community-wide effort to support downtown merchants with direct loans and Farmers Home Administration and Small Business Administration loans, according to the late Paul Siegmund, who at the time was vice president of First Carolina Bank.

Renovation

Plans for an initial $5.5 million renovation for the park started in 2001, when the city hired Sasaki Associates, a design/engineering firm, to develop the master plan for the park. The Beaufort City Council adopted the master plan on May 14, 2002.

The park closed July 25, 2005, for repairs to the seawall, stormwater and electrical systems and construction of a pavilion, playground and restroom building. Renovations were slated for completion June 13, 2006 but numerous complications pushed the park's opening back to Dec. 23, 2006. There was a ribbon-cutting celebration on Saturday, March 10, 2007. The renovation cost nearly $7 million.

When the park renovations began, contractor Brantley Construction of Charleston was expected to complete the project June 13, 2006, but complications, including unexpected repairs to the seawall, delayed the park's opening. The company tried to negotiate with the City of Beaufort for more money after the construction was finished.

Sinkholes

Sinkholes were a problem the city hoped to fix with the original renovation, but erosion underneath the surface persisted after the park opened. Brantley did not fix the sinkholes because the repairs were "beyond the scope" of its contract with the City of Beaufort. During renovations, the seawall was shored up with concrete slabs, joined by a fabric designed to keep soil from washing out between the panels. However, the erosion continued through unprotected spaces deeper than engineers accounted for.

In September 2008 and January 2009, Beaufort spent an additional $118,742 on two rounds of Prime Flex 910 injections, a chemical that holds soil together. City officials say the foam injections are working very well.

As of February 2009, officials said 80 percent of the 480-foot-long sea wall along the Waterfront Park marina was injected with the foam. The public works department will inject more foam if another sinkhole appears.

Water Festival

The Water Festival is the "granddaddy" of all festivals in Beaufort. The 10-day event usually costs between $250,00 and $500,000 each year to stage. It features concerts, sports tournaments and food and requires year-round planning, gearing up for the next year just weeks after the previous festival ends. At its peak, it involves the coordination of more than 1,000 volunteers.

Waterfront Park is a popular spot for other festivals.