Pelzer Parking Feud Finds a Solution, in Three Acts

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

A new drama debuted near the historic Pelzer Auditorium this week, and while the Mill Town Players were part of the cast, they were at the mercy of an off-site director with mysterious and vague intentions.

Act I: A New Demand to Pay for Old Parking

Will Ragland, founder and artistic director of the Mill Town Players returned from an Anderson County Council meeting where he and the theater were honored for their 10th anniversary to find a pair of members of Pelzer United Methodist Church located next to the theater stringing up yellow caution tape blocking their parking lot. Ragland was informed the pair wanted theater patrons to pay $10 to park in the church lot, a hefty sum when show tickets are $12, or guarantee the church $300 per performance to use their parking.

The move would be a marked change, since the church and theater previously had an excellent relationship, with one former pastor serving as chairman of the MTP board of directors. That pastor, Lee Cole (who is an attorney from Williamston where he now serves on town council) saw supporting the theater as a way of supporting the community, one of the church’s mandates.

The theater carries liability insurance for all parking surrounding the area, including the church lot.

“When I was pastor, I would not have allowed this kind of thing,” said Cole.

But since Cole left in 2020, the church has had three pastors come and go and the church has diminished in size to an attendance of five-eight for Sunday morning services, largely through the attrition of funerals (like so many other small congregations).

Meanwhile, more than 232,000 visitors have attended MTP performances since 2014, and the theater has shed a spotlight on an old mill town that has survived the years with little attention from those not born there, and helped bring new development and restoration to the town.

The church rests on the site of the former Pelzer High School, and still uses part of the old school building (and later added on to the front of the structure). The theater is the historic elementary school auditorium, and the building is still owned by Anderson School Dist. 1, which has a long lease agreement with the non-profit Mill Town Players.

Both the church and the theater share another ongoing challenge: funding. Following the pandemic, the theater – already running on a shoestring budget – came close to shutting down entirely, before emerging slowly over the past two years to a level of solvency which is just above breaking even (a situation shared among almost all local theater groups which survived).

Pelzer United Methodist, an already small congregation which shares a pastor with Grace United Methodist Church in Williamston, is challenged by the continued shrinking congregation, creating regular financial challenges. The church must generate enough income to pay a pastor to remain viable in the United Methodist Church.

Act I ends with a social media post by Ragland on Tuesday night, which generated more than 350 comments about the decision of the two church members to shut off parking for the theater unless their financial demands were met. Most were attacks on the church, though a few said the church should charge whatever they want for parking.

Ragland concluded the request was both unreasonable and impossible due to the cost of producing shows leaving little margin for such additional costs. He also found the timing, in the middle of a show, suspicious.

Act II: The Plot Thickens

On Wednesday, the church member who was driving the campaign to shut off the free parking, Donna Ide, a trustee at PUMC, made it clear that cars would be towed from their lot if payment was not arranged. The initial announcement was no parking at all until cooler weather, when the church would begin selling parking spots.

The source of such a sudden change in policy became suspect when it was revealed that Ide, Mayor Pro Tem of Pelzer Town Council, has been involved in long-standing feuds with Ragland, who serves as Pelzer’s mayor. The two have been at odds on a number of issues involving the town, which has been on display at more than one council meeting according to those who witnessed the disagreements.

Did this lead to the church changing direction on support for the theater group and allowing the use of their parking lot?

Act 2 ends with suspicions, but no formal admission that the move was personal and had little to do with the church being disgruntled with the Mill Town Players.

Act 3: A Cooler Head Rules

By Thursday, efforts were made to get both the district office and the state office of the United Methodist Church involved, after conversations between the church and theater broke down.

With the final weekend of the latest show, “Bonnie & Clyde,” which ironically features Ragland as a preacher offering redemption, finding parking for the theater goers, many of whom are senior citizens, became critical.

One local church, Alive Wesleyan in Pelzer generously offered use of their lot. That church is one-half mile from the theater and on the other side of a busy road. Some residents in the neighborhood offered use of their property as well, but again most were across the busy road and at night this poses so many potential problems.

Then, late Thursday afternoon, a new player took the stage. The new pastor of Pelzer United Methodist Church, the Rev. Suzy Sullivan, met with her members and moved the needle back toward supporting their neighbors and the community. For now, the church’s paved parking lot will be available for free parking to Mill Town Players audiences, and only the grassy areas will not be off-limits to vehicles.

For a new pastor to exhibit such leadership and expressed she is looking forward to being a part of the community surrounding her new church.

The community welcomes such new leadership in one of its congregations.

Act 3 ends with some questions still unanswered, but with feathers smoothed for now. Let’s hope there is not an unwelcome sequel.