Civic Connections for Community Concerns
by Christopher C. Thompson
It was the week before the 2020 election and it was a foregone conclusion that longtime city-councilman (possibly the youngest ever) was a shoe-in for Mayor of Beaufort, SC. Stephen Murray is actually a schoolmate, given we both graduated from Beaufort High School; he was in the class of 1999 with my brother, Richard. I was in the class of 2000. We both share a love of our hometown, Beaufort, SC. It only made sense for us to sit and talk about the preferred future of the city we love. The future-mayor Murray agreed to a sit-down with a friend and colleague and I, and we just talked about the things that mattered to us. He talked about what he wanted to do as mayor, and we talked about the things that we wanted to do as concerned citizens and professionals.
We talked about a number of things, but there is one thing that stood out in that conversation. As the conversation progressed, we asked the future mayor. Why the Greene Street Gym was closed. A little background here: The Charles Lind Brown Center, AKA the Greene Street Gym is named after the man who integrated sports in Beaufort County. The space has deep community history and significance and has been a treasured community meeting place for multiple generations.
Now, keep in mind, this is in the midst of the pandemic; so on hand, it’s closed for an obvious reason. On the other hand, there is a very complicated story of why it was closed. That story includes all types of local civic, legal, and fiduciary components; which were all unrelated to the pandemic. Simply put, the facility had been mismanaged by the county government, and the residents were past the point of frustration for the lack of access. A few months after the election, the three of us attended a ribbon cutting for new equipment at a neighborhood park. That same question about the gym was posed again; this time in the presence of all of the city council members and several community stakeholders. That was the first unofficial community meeting about the issue.
It only took a few weeks for the Mayor, in the midst of an official city-council working session to appoint an official city task force to study the issue and gauge community interest and opinions on the issue. Starting in the spring of 2021 and throughout the rest of the calendar year, the task-force met regularly to do just that. We dreamed, argued, planned, and surveyed the community. I’m proud to share that in January of 2022, the Greene Street Gym reopened to the public after having been closed since 2013. There have been extensive and ongoing renovations to enhance the space, and there is a full-time facility manager, but there is still lots of work to do. We are still engaging with county officials to make sure that the site is properly staffed and resourced. The disjointed city-county relationships have proven to pose several challenges; which we are careful to engage.
Here’s what I have experienced with Mayor Murray: He cares about people and the things that matter to them. He’s action-oriented, and he wants what’s good for all the residents of Beaufort. We stay in touch about what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to be worked on. I consider him a friend, but we are partners to help make positive things happen. As a clergy leader and educator I can partner to share my perspective and engage the people in my circles of influence to get things done. He is able to use his expertise as a civic leader and business owner to leverage resources to get things done. Here is a fact: There’s so much more work to do.
I spoke to Mayor Murray just a few days ago. We talked about next steps with the Greene Street Gym, and we talked about a few new ideas around issues we plan to tackle. When we hung up, we both had homework, and I made a couple more calls and enlisted some help immediately for my portion of the work. I think this is what makes communities great. Connections and collaborations around community concerns for constructive and positive change.