New Hartsville recreation center to be named for 'Coach' Thomas

By: Candace Jarrett/Morning News | SCNow
Published: November 29, 2007

HARTSVILLE — The new recreation center that will be housed at Byerly Park will be named the T.B. “Coach” Thomas Recreation Center for the former council member and mayor pro tempore.

The announcement came as a surprise to Thomas. He said when he heard the news, he was at a loss for words — something he rarely was in his more than two decades of service.

“Gracious day,” he said. “All I can really say, is thank you so very much.”

Thomas said his athletic achievements — including winning a bronze medal winner in the Pacific Olympics (Manila), outstanding athlete awards, basketball coach of the year awards and being inducted as a member of the Athletic Hall of Fame at South Carolina State University — didn’t compare to hearing that the city he’s had a self-proclaimed “love affair” with was naming its center of athletic activity after him.

The city awarded the bid contract for construction of the center to Dempsey Construction. Phillip Gardner, the city’s director of parks and leisure services, said the building would take the city’s recreation department to the next level.

“The building itself is perfect for what it is designed to do,” he said. “We are just doing some tweaking to final construction blueprints to make sure it represents Hartsville.”

The city had to figure out what to do with its recreation department in June when, after more than five decades of being housed in the old National Guard Armory, the city had to close the the building because it had become a hazard. The building was built before World War II and has mildew damage, termites chewing through floors, structural cracks, peeling walls and uprooted floors. Although the building is on the National Register of Historic Places, it would have cost the city more money to renovate it than to construct a new building.

The new recreation center will have a basketball court that can separate into a four-court practice area, multi-purpose rooms, an aerobic area, office space for the Department of Recreation, registration area and a banquet center area.

The city also will be working on interconnecting the roadways to Byerly Park to make it more accessible, as well as enlarging the soccer field area, installing two more parking lots and constructing a four-field youth complex.

Byerly Park has a track, football field, adult size baseball fields, four soccer fields, and two playgrounds.

“It’s 90 acres of tremendous activity on any day when everything is going on,” city manager Jim Pennington said. “Byerly Park was nothing, but it grew, funded through the Byerly Park Foundation and state grants throughout the past five years.”

Gardner said it would take eight to 10 months to complete the project.

“Unfortunately, it won’t be done in time for Christmas,” he said, “but we will get it in time for Christmas next year.”

New Hartsville recreation center to be named for 'Coach' Thomas

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