The City of Greenville will be meeting with two firms next week to discuss their proposals for Unity Park: While the landscape and architecture firm MKSK has developed designs for the park, the city still needs to select a construction manager at risk. The chosen firm will consult in the pre-construction design phase, help establish costs, and then manage and control construction costs. 

The two firms scheduled for meetings next Thursday, May 9, are Harper General Contractors and Astra Group. The presentations for the two firms are scheduled an hour apart. 

The first phase of Unity Park will cost an estimated $42 million and includes river restoration, a gathering hall, playground, and visitors center. The park's signature piece, an observation tower, is not initially slated for phase one. 

Construction is set to begin later this year. 

Unity Park will be located in a long-neglected area of the city, an area which has historically been home to primarily African-American residents. While efforts are being made to make sure affordable housing will be located near the park, concerns have been raised by those fearing gentrification, with the most recent dust-up centering around a proposal to bring a craft brewery to the area in a location near a homeless shelter. 

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Four Greenville County schools in the Top 20 of US News' Best South Carolina High School list: Charleston County School District's Academic Magnet High School was not only named the top school in the Palmetto State, but the No. 1 in the nation. Greenville's highest ranking school was Eastside High (No. 10 in the state and No. 1,220 in the nation), followed by Wade Hampton High (No. 11/No. 1,239), Riverside High (No. 16/No 2,023), and J.L. Mann High (No. 17/No. 2,025).

Although Academic Magnet can boast a 100% graduation rate and a score of 100 on college readiness, the magnet school has been criticized for a lack of diversity. The 600+ student Academic Magnet has a minority enrollment of 19%, the same amount as Mt. Pleasant's Wando High (No. 4/No. 878), which has over 4,000 students. The minority enrollment numbers for the four Greenville Schools are: J.L. Mann, 43%, Wade Hampton, 41%; Eastside, 33%; and Riverside, 31%.
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