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Cypress Gardens Celebrates Grand Reopening, Free Admission for County Residents

by Nicole Johnson Shealy

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. –The Berkeley County community celebrated the grand reopening of a beloved landmark on Saturday.

Cypress Gardens is newly renovated and open to the public after closing due to the historic floods of October 2015. The community celebrated with a ribbon cutting and free admission for all on Saturday.

“This is amazing. It’s hard to put into words. To see everyone out here able to enjoy the park, it’s what we’ve wanted all along,” said Cypress Gardens Director Heather McDowell.

The floods had destroyed much of the park including the boat dock, swamp/nature center, butterfly garden, reception hall, gardens, and more. McDowell says floodwaters rose one to four feet high though out the area. 

“We had to row a boat in here, and it was devastating,” McDowell said.

For the past three and a half years, Berkeley County employees from various departments and community volunteers came together to rebuild the site. Berkeley County Government oversees the park’s operations and estimates thousands in lost revenue during the closure.

County Supervisor Johnny Cribb says during multiple meet and greets with residents, community members wanted access to quality parks and recreational facilities, and the reopening of Cypress Gardens became a priority when he took office in January.

“We knew what the need was. We had a plan and we had the funding,” Cribb said. “The biggest commitment we made was we are going to open April 13th. When you’ve got really good staff and people involved and you give them a mission with a critical date, they came up with operations plans and it just got done.” 

The park now boasts an improved nature trail, butterfly garden, gift shop, aquarium with new animals, boat dock, picnic shelters, playground, and picturesque garden and courtyard. Volunteers say the love of nature and outdoors is why they came several times a week to see the park restored. 

“I’ve been coming out here for here for three and a half years since it closed. All the volunteers have come out here to keep it from becoming a big old tangled mess,” Summerville resident Marian McKee said. She spent her time working in the rose garden. “If you know plants, they are opportunistic, you have to keep on top of it.”

“I’m a plant-a-holic. There were a lot of weeds. Weeding was a big part of it. It’s such a unique place where you can get into nature,” Bonneau resident Cathy Kadlecik said. 

Hundreds of community members came out to the ribbon cutting and reopening ceremony, and park officials hope people will continue to enjoy the redesigned park for years to come.

“Even though there are many people here today, anytime you enter into a garden, it speaks to you personally. There’s something that comes out of the beauty of being in a garden,” Moncks Corner Councilwoman Tonia Aiken-Taylor said. She gave the event invocation.

As an added bonus, Berkeley County residents can enjoy free admission until June 30th!

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