MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - An indoor entertainment venue could soon be coming to the northern end of Mount Pleasant in the Carolina Park community.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ventura Sports Group, Mark Schuster, says this facility on Faison Road would be anchored by an eSports stadium, which will be used for other events throughout the year.

“Charleston’s a destination. As they continue to build these eSports venues around the country, people are going to want to go to places they love going to. And what’s a better place to go to than Charleston and Mount Pleasant,” Schuster said.

The project is on 29 acres of land, near Highway 17. Schuster says the eSports stadium will be 120,000 square feet with a 1,600 seat auditorium inside.

He says there will also be space for classes where you can go learn to play eSports. Plans also show a convention hall inside the eSports venue.

Schuster says the targeted audience for eSports is primarily those ages 13 to 35, but it continues to see more and more growth.

Schuster says around the venue will be retail stores, restaurants, and possibly a hotel.

He says they plan to host entertainments like boxing, mixed martial arts, and concerts in the area throughout the year.

Schuster, also the former General Manager of the Charleston RiverDogs, says there are only five other eSports stadiums like this one in the United States right now. Those are in Philadelphia, Arlington, Las Vegas, Oakland, and southern California.

The eSports venue in Mount Pleasant is in the planning and development stages right now. Schuster says they are trying to move quickly, and hope to see it open by the end of 2023, or the first quarter of 2024.

He says the cost of the project will vary based on what all comes around the space. He says they have received interest from folks about also having a post-production film studio here, to allow for more movie making in town. He says that has not been approved yet, but if it is included, the total project cost would be about $82 million.

He estimates it would bring about $10 million annually in tax revenue. He says that’s not to mention the number of jobs, both construction and full-time/long-term positions, it will bring.

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MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Town of Mt. Pleasant leaders are working to figure out the best use for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. The town is receiving $7.5 million dollars.

Some say buying land in the northern part of town for economic development is best, while others believe the money should be used for other projects.

The clock is ticking on this decision as the town is under contract to purchase a 30-acre plot of land off Faison Road in the Carolina Park area. The contract is set to close in November. The town would use $6.5 million of ARPA funds to purchase the land.

Councilmember Gary Santos is all for economic development in North Mt. Pleasant and says the residents deserve it.

“The idea is to find the right thing that fits the community up there. Pickleball courts, a recreation center, we talked about a YMCA up there, another senior center,” said Santos.

These ideas are just a few that have been discussed. A cultural arts center or an e-sports arena have also been mentioned.

Mt. Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie says while he agrees economic development would be a benefit for north Mt. Pleasant, there are other projects he says need to get done first.

“What I think is, that we should use this money for shovel-ready improvements for traffic, for drainage. Things that rescue plan money is meant to be spent for,” said Mayor Haynie.

Plans for economic developments, especially on a larger scale, take years. That’s a concern the Mayor has.

“I’m not against any of the things that were mentioned. There’s no feasibility studies, there’s no sight analysis, there’s no anything,” explained the Mayor. “We should fix traffic and we should fix drainage and fix the things that we must do, while we plan for the things we would like to do.”

At Tuesday’s town council meeting, some residents shared concerns over a new build in Carolina Park.

“My hope is that the residents of Carolina Park will have some say in what that land would be used for,” mentioned one resident.

“There’s a lot of rumor, a lot of speculation running around right now because there is no transparency,” said another.

Councilmember Gary Santos says after Tuesday’s meeting when Mayor Haynie and Councilman Howard Chapman voted that the funds should not be used to purchase the plot of land, he’s been getting phone calls from people who want more options in north Mt. Pleasant.

“They clearly thought that this was going to be going up to their part of town.”

The results of the upcoming municipal election could play into the decision of exactly what the ARPA funds will be used for.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Charleston County unemployment rate improved somewhat during the late summer.

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC — The U.S. posted its weakest job recovery month of the year in September, with just 194,000 non-farm jobs added to the economy.

The September jobs report was even worse than that in August, when 366,000 jobs were created, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to 4.8 percent despite the September disappointment.

The latest available local unemployment figures are for August; that rate improved since July in the Mount Pleasant area and continues to be lower than it was the beginning of the pandemic.

The Charleston County unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in August, down from 3.9 percent in July. That reflected some improvement from August 2020, when the unemployment rate stood at 6.0 percent.

The August unemployment rate in Charleston County was lower than the South Carolina rate of 4.2 percent, according to the latest local figures from the BLS.

Nationally, 17.4 million jobs have been added back to the economy since April 2020. Still, the country is down 5 million positions (3.3 percent) from pre-pandemic levels.

The jobs report is based on survey data from mid-September, which may have skewed negatively due to several crises in the country, according to The Washington Post. At the time there were 150,000 coronavirus cases per day in the country; the number has since dropped by nearly half.

Parts of the country were also recovering from the devastating Hurricane Ida, and California is still dealing with the effects of ongoing wildfires.

Average hourly wages continued to climb in September, with a 17-cent gain to $30.85. Hourly wages have grown for six months in a row as employers look to fill vacant positions.

Employees have been more willing than ever to leave their employers. A record 4.3 million employees quit their jobs in August, according to the BLS.

The leisure/hospitality and professional/business service industries led the way for September job gains with 74,000 and 60,000 jobs, respectively. Retail trade jobs increased by 56,000 jobs after two months of little change.

Editor's note: This post was automatically generated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Please report any errors or other feedback to content@patch.com.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Lucy Beckham High School became one of the first schools in the nation to start a Coast Guard Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program this month.

It’s the first school in South Carolina and one of three schools in the country to have a Coast Guard JROTC unit.

Schools across the state have Army, Navy and Air Force JROTC programs. They are more common than Coast Guard programs because they receive their funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, and there are laws in place that allow the department to help finance such units. The Coast Guard is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and, until recently, similar funding pathways did not exist.

Principal Anna Dassing changed that. She elicited the help of U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham and S.C. District 1 Rep. James Clyburn to pass an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which gave Lucy Beckham, as well as any other school in the country, the ability to operate a Coast Guard unit.

“The legislation is now written and other schools are able to apply,” Dassing said.

Dassing envisioned the high school having some type of JROTC program since it opened last school year. She led the planning team for the school and wanted Lucy Beckham to have a JROTC program that would complement Wando High School’s Air Force JROTC unit.

Like other JROTC units, students compete in drill, flag core, cybersecurity, rifle and academic competitions on a national level. They have the opportunity to earn scholarships, and the program is often a cadet’s first introduction to military careers.

“Our cadets are going to learn time management, leadership, confidence, and a lot of the skills that are going to put them ahead of a lot of their other classmates when it comes time for graduation,” said Lt. j.g. Ron Blake, who is one of two instructors.

So far, the school has 25 students participating. Blake hopes to have around 60 to 70 students next school year.

Kelsey Nightingale, a Lucy Beckham junior, joined the program because her older friends enjoyed it, but she’s since found a love for the drill team.

“Everyone works as a team, you learn how to respect people,” Nightingale said.

Because Lucy Beckham’s Coast Guard JROTC program is one of the first of its kind, the high school is creating a template for future programs to follow.

Blake said he and the cadets are helping the Coast Guard create a curriculum that will be used in programs across the country. The instructor is referring to the Coast Guard JROTC unit as a “fifth-year program,” meaning every student will be set up to attend college or be employed by the time they graduate.

Blake will teach the cadets about job interviews, resume writing, study tips, essay writing and more.

“I’m going to give them every single opportunity and all of the information to be successful,” he said.

What do a barge, a deconstructed water tower, shipping containers and a shark sculpture have in common? They’re all elements of a new addition to an artificial reef off the coast of Edisto Island.

Although SCDNR biologists have been constructing artificial reefs for more than 40 years, this year marked a particularly large project with a new partner: Mount Pleasant Waterworks.

The water utility donated the water tower from the Old Village area of Mount Pleasant. The tower, built in 1934, was dismantled on July 20. It hadn’t held water since 1991 after it was replaced with ground storage tanks. There were community discussions as to whether to fix the tower or dismantle it. However, the structure required massive repairs with an estimate of about $1.2 million to make it safe so the decision was made to take it down.

“Repurposing our Old Village Water Tank as an artificial reef allows us the opportunity to fulfill our mission of protecting the environment,” said Mount Pleasant Waterworks General Manager Allan Clum. “We all have something at stake when it comes to water, and we’re grateful for our partnership with SCDNR as we work together to protect our natural resources.”

Clum said all the structures, including the water tank undergo a rigorous cleaning process to ensure they’re safe to sink as part of a reef.

Onlookers enjoyed low seas and an east wind on September 14 while watching the 250-foot retired barge sink beneath the waves to its new home on the seafloor. It took six hours for the barge to completely submerge.

Within half a year or so, marine life will begin to colonize the barge and fish will school in the area.

“The variety of structures will provide habitat for a diverse array of species,” said Robert Martore, longtime head of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ (SCDNR) artificial reef program. “The open spaces of the container boxes provide a cave-like interior that larger species like snapper and grouper prefer, while the pieces of the water tower create low relief habitat that provide refuge for smaller species and juveniles.”

Artificial reefs play a similar role in the ocean as coral reefs. Manmade structures that are typically placed on areas of seafloor with little natural relief, artificial reefs improve habitat and spawning grounds for fish and marine life – in turn attracting recreational divers and anglers. The environmental benefits of artificial reefs are twofold, as they recycle materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills in addition to expanding critical habitat for offshore fish.

The reef addition also marked another successful project with the Coastal Conservation Association South Carolina, which has provided support for 15 reef projects to date. CCA SC and their longtime partner Sea Hunt Boat Company donated 12 container boxes that were placed on the barge and funded half the costs of the barge itself and towing to the reef site.

The barge was also decked out with a life-sized concrete sculpture of a white shark created by SCDNR biologists. In-house concrete structures are nothing new to the program, which has experimented with creating different shapes and sizes to benefit different fish species over the years.

“But this time, we decided to get creative and create a photo op that scuba divers would enjoy,” Martore said.

About 10 nautical miles offshore, the Edisto 60-foot reef (also known as PA-30) is already a well-developed artificial reef spot popular among anglers and divers. Over 20 structures have previously been submerged there, including a large ship, military vehicles, and rubble from the old Cooper River Bridge.