‘A long time coming’: New BullStreet parking garage to make debut for USC-Clemson game
For years there have been plans for parking garages at the sprawling BullStreet development in downtown Columbia.
Now one of those garages is set to make its debut, and just in time for one of the fiercest rivalries in college baseball to make its way to BullStreet this weekend.
According to officials with the city of Columbia and the Columbia Fireflies baseball team, a new 657-space parking garage on Freed Street will be available for fans for Saturday’s baseball matchup between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University at the Fireflies’ Segra Park.
The game — billed as the Battle at BullStreet — is at 4 p.m. Saturday. It will be part of a weekend series between the two longtime rivals. Friday’s game will be at Founders Park in Columbia, while Sunday’s contest will be at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson.
The new garage on Freed Street is located just southwest of Segra Park, a short walk from the stadium. City special projects administrator Gregory Tucker said it is not yet open for day-to-day use (the city is still waiting on pay-station machines to arrive) but will be open for Saturday’s ballgame, with special event staff manning the garage. Parking in the garage for the Battle at BullStreet will be $10.
The Fireflies noted there also will be parking available across Colonial Drive in the state office lots for $10.
As part of its agreement with Greenville’s Hughes Development, which is redeveloping the BullStreet property that was formerly home to the State Mental Hospital, the city of Columbia is obligated to provide 1,600 parking garage spaces on the site. The first two garages — the one on Freed Street and a smaller one associated with the under-construction WestLawn office building — are essentially complete. The smaller garage will not be open this weekend.
Beyond Saturday’s matchup between the Gamecocks and Tigers, the Freed Street garage also will be available for Columbia Fireflies games this season. While Major League Baseball continues to be caught up in labor negotiations, the minor leagues are set to start their season on time, and the Class A Fireflies will have their opening day on April 8.
Fireflies President Brad Shank said the new garage is a big plus.
“It is a game-changer, it really is,” Shank told The State. “One of the biggest challenges we’ve had the first six years here at the ballpark is parking. But we knew it didn’t make sense to build a parking garage just for baseball. But now that there is more development going on around it, it makes more sense to have a deck here. It will make the game experience better for fans. ... It’s been a long time coming.”
The new garage will get a big test for its debut. Shank said he expects more than 8,000 people will attend Saturday’s rivalry ballgame.
“It will be a busy day, and I think we’ll learn a lot,” Shank said. “Certainly, the benefit is worth the growing pains of kind of figuring out traffic flow and everything like that. And of course (the Columbia Police Department) will help us with that.”
Shank encouraged fans to arrive early Saturday. There will be a Fan Fest beginning at noon, which will feature live music including jams from headliner Tokyo Joe, food trucks, a performance by a member of the Harlem Globetrotters and more. Stadium gates will open at 2 p.m., and first pitch is at 4 p.m.
There is a lot of activity happening at BullStreet, particularly near the ballpark. Publico restaurant is prepping a location in the Ensor Building, right next to the stadium. The aforementioned WestLawn office building is under construction. The historic Babcock Building is being renovated for apartments, with tenants set to begin moving in this spring. The Bennet apartment development is under construction directly across from Segra Park and will have about 270 apartments and retail on the ground floor.
Tucker has been a key liaison for the city as it has has worked with Hughes on the BullStreet redevelopment. He said he is excited to see the Freed Street garage get its first action.
“It’s a very good thing,” Tucker said. “Hughes, many years ago, qualified for the first (garages) to be built, but they realized that, unless there was a demand for it, why build a garage that would sit out there empty. We wanted to time it more where it would get use right off the bat.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 11:41 AM.
