Q&Amy: What happened to the Cancer Survivors Park?

Q: Whatever happened to the Cancer Survivors Park? We noticed the sign has been removed.

Amy in short: You're not the only one to notice the sign's absence, said Kay Roper, executive director of the Cancer Survivors Park Alliance.

But it's not an indication that the project has been forsaken. In fact, it's inching closer to reality, with work expected to start in February.

A bit more: The 6.8-acre park has been in the works for 15 years, growing from a small beautification project to a sprawling park in that time.

But finally vision is becoming reality, starting with a handicap-accessible boardwalk that will scale a hillside to provide access to the park.

"We've actually signed the contract ... to start the boardwalk, so we know that's a given at this point," said Diane Gluck, Cancer Survivors Park Alliance founder and board president.

"The other's a little bit dependent on some permitting issues as well as continued fundraising."

That "other" includes replacing the current metal bridge over the Reedy River with a 12-foot-wide one, building a 2,000-square-foot education center and open-air pavilion, and creating a series of gardens and pathways. In total, it's 16 designated park areas.

All of this comes with a $7.5 million price tag.

It's going in at the point where Falls Park merges into Cleveland Park, along the GHS Swamp Rabbit Trail, a spot Gluck called an "ecologically and historically significant space that has been neglected."

The sunken area overlooked by the NEXT Innovation Center and Chamber of Commerce buildings is currently dominated by overgrowth and kudzu. Graffiti dots the pilings that support Cleveland Street overhead. A large, black sewage pipe runs alongside the notorious "cheesegrate" bridge that stymies runners and bikers — and more than a few dogs whose owners end up carrying them bodily across.

All of that will be transformed into a lush space with children's garden, overlooks, a labyrinth, manicured plazas and more.

Original plans had called for the park to be completed in two phases, the first of which was originally set to begin this past February.

"It is slightly delayed because of permitting issues, as well as we were about $2 million over budget, so we had to slow the project down," Gluck said.

Evolving plans led to some garden elements being relocated away from steep, hard-to-grade places and into some of the more naturally level areas on the Church Street side of the river.

The project begins with a 1,000-foot-long boardwalk connecting the NEXT Innovation Center with the park and proceeding to other elements in the spring. It is slated to open by December 2015.

"We hope that being able to see some progress on the site will be huge. It will be huge for us as well as all those people who are saying, 'It's a great idea, but will it ever happen?'" Gluck said.

The sign about the project, which had been in place along the Swamp Rabbit Trail near the existing bridge, was taken down about six weeks ago, essentially because it was no longer accurate after the design changes. But the sign is expected to be replaced within the next couple weeks, Roper said.

The Cancer Survivors Park was first inspired by Gluck's daughter's high school project, in which she set out to beautify the area outside a local cancer treatment center.

The group, formerly known as Patients First, was created in 1999 to expand on that original project.

The current site of the Cancer Survivors Park is the third one selected. One of them along the way was the area near the Governor's School that is now Pedrick's Garden.

"This was supposed to be a small project when we first started," Gluck said. "It just grew into a huge project."

About $3.8 million has been raised thus far, Roper said. The group is hoping to have 80 percent of the $7.5 million total available before beginning the park's construction in March.

A public fundraising push, which will include some naming opportunities for park elements, will begin around the New Year. But unlike a traditional brick-sponsorship program, the park leaders want something that doesn't conclude once everything's built.

"There'll be continued survivors, and we want people two years from now who want to be part of the park or want to recognize someone in the park have an opportunity to do that," Gluck said.

One name that won't be up for grabs is the park itself. It will remain Cancer Survivors Park, dedicated not only to those who have survived the disease but also those who are battling it and the survivors left behind by those who were lost to cancer.

The park has been carefully and intensely designed to mirror the various experiences of cancer, incorporating high and low points, areas for gathering or for solitude, vibrance and tranquility.

"The minute you enter what will be our portals, you will feel transformed," Gluck said.

Got a question? Send it to Q&Amy by emailing me at aburns@greenvillenews.com or calling 864-298-3822. You can find me on Twitter at @QandAmyNews.