Mount Pleasant council wants to keep pier open late

  • Prentiss Findlay
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  • Posted: Monday, February 6, 2012 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Friday, March 23, 2012 3:52 p.m.
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Gary Ulrich and his wife Jan visiting from Canada said they love to walk the Ravenel Bridge and the Pier at Waterfront Park, and would like the expanded hours.
Leroy Burnell /Gary Ulrich and his wife Jan visiting from Canada said they love to walk the Ravenel Bridge and the Pier at Waterfront Park, and would like the expanded hours.

MOUNT PLEASANT -- The pier at Memorial Waterfront Park should remain open until 11 p.m. year-round, a Town Council committee voted today.

The pier now closes at 5 p.m. in winter and at 10 p.m. in summer.

"It's a wonderful place," said Town Councilman Chris Nickels, who proposed the change at a meeting of the Public Services Committee.

Nickels said he has heard from some who wanted to watch the sunset from the pier only to discover locked gates that kept them away.

He said there is no downside to longer pier hours and no cost to the town.

The committee, including Chairman Nickels, Mayor Pro-Tem Thomasena Stokes-Marshall and Councilman John Burn, voted unanimously in favor of longer hours. It requested that Mayor Billy Swails write a letter to Charleston County Park and Recreation seeking the change. The town has a contract with PRC to manage the pier.

"The one key factor would always be security," Stokes-Marshall said.

The town has a police substation next to the pier, so that would not be a problem, Town Administrator Eric DeMoura said.

The pier is the area's longest at 1,200 feet.

The area's other pier at Folly Beach closes at 5 p.m. in winter and is open until 11 p.m. during the summer. It is a PRC facility.