Public Spaces, Beautiful Places

Letters to the editor notwithstanding, (and yes, traffic is frustrating, and worse), Hilton Head Island is still an extraordinarily nice place in which to live. Compared to many cities and towns across the nation, local endeavors to keep it attractive are far superior and one doesn’t have to travel far to appreciate it. The point being that a great deal of work is ongoing to make our public spaces not just livable, but extraordinarily appealing. And this is for everyone – not just plantation dwellers. While money spent for public beautification is not chiefly done for gain, it inevitably achieves positive results in the lives of its inhabitants. 

Much has been made, justifiably, of the entrance planting to various residential plantations, including a contest for the most attractive. All of them are very well designed and maintained and are a beautiful part of the environment. But though visible to all from the highway, they are private landscapes, installed to enhance the reputation of the plantation. However, many public spaces on Hilton Head deserving of attention and praise go too often unsung and taken for granted. Only open your eyes to the beauty we are treated to daily and forget, if but for a calming moment, the traffic aggravation on Highway 278.

To wit, Hilton Head Regional Medical Center is not only approached by a beautiful, well maintained avenue of healthy magnolias, blooming crape myrtles and understory shrubs, it also offers space for a small and lovely children’s memorial garden on the right hand side. Centered by a dramatic falling water feature, the garden’s paths and benches welcome the visitor for a few minutes of peace and calm, reflection and/or prayer. It is well planted with shade trees, blooming trees and shrubs and annual and perennial flowers. Instead of rushing past, stop for a moment of peace and count your blessings.

The library on Beach City Road is set among greenery, but the real visual treasure is the perhaps overlooked small garden outside the windows on the left side, just beyond the comfortable chairs and tables where people relax with newspaper or magazines. One hopes the reader will look up and out and enjoy the beautifully planted and paved little garden with its two memorial benches. Although one can ask to go outside and sit, it can be enjoyed almost as much from the inside, looking out through large windows.

A simple example is the planting of Main Street Circle – neat, colorful and candy for the eye as one approaches, waiting to enter the circle. While it is not advisable to admire while traversing said circle, this is doubly true of the famous Sea Pines Circle, recently renovated to great effect with beautiful plantings and a memorial flag on handsome brick paving. It too can be better appreciated while waiting to enter the circle from Sea Pines gate as a nerve-calming exercise. Both examples, even in the midst of frequently heavy traffic, create a more refreshing atmosphere than barren stretches of concrete or asphalt.

Although not exclusively public space, since it is also commercial, Pineland Station’s inner mall and courtyard offer large, lush container plantings, trees, shrubs, flowers and a pond, complete with waterwheel and the antics of resident ducks for your pleasure. Though one is not required to make a purchase, in the event that shopping is your purpose it certainly enhances the experience beyond the customary concrete malls.

Residents may not be familiar with all of the many public parks on Hilton Head Island. Two of the newer ones are Jarvis Creek Park and the tucked away, natural one at the end of Beach City Road. Just drive to the sign signaling a right hand turn into Fish Haul Park, then walk the mulched path onto the boardwalk and pavilion for an exceptional view. Another tranquil, expansive outlook over the marshes to Broad Creek creates a proper and affecting setting for the Veteran’s Memorial at Shelter Cove Community Park. There are no unknown soldiers here – all are identified by name and military service by bricks which compose the pavement below the abstract sculpture. The larger community park is well known as the venue for many festive events during the year.

Recently, a dedication ceremony was held for a new park at the corner of Pope Avenue and New Orleans road to be known as Compass Rose Park, named for the ancient cartographic emblem from which Sea Pines took its logo 50 years ago. In a recent issue of this magazine, Mayor Peeples promises even more public parks in the near future.

Since this just begins to scratch the surface, it is up to the resident-tourist-traveler to uncover and discover for himself, by merely opening eyes a little wider to look and see and enjoy every day, this green and temperate island that is Hilton Head. Although Shakespeare said it better, “This precious stone set in a silver sea,” it would perhaps be cheeky to compare Hilton Head Island with England. But still...