FOREST ACRES, SC (WIS) – The Forest Acres Special Council met Monday to discuss the master plan for the new Forest Acres Mall Park development.

The new shopping center will be built on the site of the former Richland Mall, whose demolition began in March.

Ellis Creel, vice chair of the Forest Acres Planning Commission, told WIS News 10 they expect a mixed-use site, including “a beautiful six-acre park for Forest Acres,” complete with a brewery, dining options, retail and 500 apartments for people looking to move to the city.

The images presented on Monday will be reviewed by the council and members will then have until Friday to make any necessary changes before the final sketches are made.

The park will be located on a six-acre site purchased with $3 million from the state budget. The current site contains a parking lot and a neglected creek. City officials said the creek will be included and highlighted in the project.

“We’re all just excited about the direction Forest Acres is going right now, but we can already envision the next five years and just have a great vision,” said Thomas Andrews, mayor of Forest Acres.

The park will include an amphitheater, farmers market, playground, over 80 on-site parking spaces, gazebos and more.

City officials said the site has room for more than 3,000 people, but that number does not take into account the large amount of seating that will be created around the park.

“It’s a big space, but I think they put a lot of effort into figuring out how to design it so that it can accommodate a big crowd and serve a big purpose, but also have little areas where it feels small and personal even when there’s not a big crowd or a big event going on,” Andrews said.

The park will be located adjacent to the additional revitalization project, which includes over 50,000 square feet of retail stores, restaurants, a grocery store and approximately 380 apartments.

“It will appeal to both our older and younger residents, so it’s an exciting place, an exciting idea. Now we just need to do the hard work as a council and make it a reality,” Andrews said.

The park is the first step in the revitalization – groundbreaking is expected in the next 12 to 18 months. Andrews said the park must be designed in conjunction with the other ongoing construction projects.

“We’re working with the developer to make sure that we don’t build the park in isolation and they don’t build the facility in isolation, but that they work together, promote each other and really work together so that everyone thrives,” Andrews said.

A video from the landscape architecture and civil engineering division of The LandPlan Group, Inc. shows a 3D concept video of what the project will look like when completed. A name for the park has not yet been decided, but city officials said it will be discussed at upcoming city council meetings.