Park Circle’s new community building unveiled

The City of North Charleston has officially opened its anticipated new community building in the center of Park Circle.

The $20 million redevelopment project, called Park Circle Reimagined, broke ground in June 2022 and was completed at the end of 2023. The project includes not only the new community building, complete with classrooms, meeting rooms, a theater and flexible event space, but also the world’s largest inclusive playground on the same site.

The 55,000 square foot playground features elements that will ensure inclusion for all children of different abilities to interact. It was visited by an estimated 80,000 in its first month and continues to see tons of families daily, North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Director Kyle Lahm said. There’s also a baseball field, farmers market pavilion and lots of green space.

The community building replaces an older community building that was demolished. It was opened quietly at the start of the year, and on March 7, the cultural arts department hosted an open house to announce and show off the new space to the local arts community.

The new community building offers classrooms (where the cultural arts department artist workshops are now held), meeting rooms (which are used for Park Circle neighborhood meetings, for example) and a theater performance and rehearsal space. There’s a dance room and a “backstage” dressing room that the department said they hope local arts organizations will take advantage of.

Interested teaching artists or arts agencies may submit proposals to present classes and workshops in all arts disciplines in the art studio, meeting room and rehearsal studio, Lahm said. Find proposal forms at northcharleston.org. The space can also be rented for events.

Collecting community feedback

The cultural arts department is also working towards launching an artist residency program which will be based in the community building. To collect opinions on how this residency can best serve the community, the cultural arts department is currently taking feedback via a survey.

Deputy director Ann Simmons said, “we want to make sure we get this right and design something that will be helpful to our local artists.”

Overall, Park Circle is sure to benefit from overall easier access to the North Charleston cultural arts department, which used to have its office on the second floor at North Charleston City Hall. Now, you can easily visit Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. to learn more about opportunities for artists, workshops and events, including its annual North Charleston Arts Fest which happens each May.

And if you’re looking to learn more about North Charleston, look no further than the history and archives repository. Archive and History Coordinator Don Campagna keeps regular hours there.

Learn more about the Park Circle Reimagined project and the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department on their website or Instagram.