The Town of Fort Mill is preparing to break ground on one of the largest municipal infrastructure projects in its history — a massive new operations center campus designed to support the town’s explosive growth.
Town officials announced this week that construction will soon begin on a new state-of-the-art Operations Center that will consolidate public works, utilities, fleet maintenance, storage, fueling operations, and administrative functions into one modern campus.
The project comes as Fort Mill’s population has surged from roughly 11,800 residents in 2011 to an estimated 38,673 residents in 2026.
Officials say the town’s existing facilities were never designed to handle that level of growth.
For years, many operations have been based out of aging facilities downtown, including the historic 1938 armory on Elliott Street and nearby utility properties originally intended for a much smaller town.
The new campus will relocate operations onto roughly 33 acres outside downtown, allowing crews and equipment to more easily reach growing parts of town without navigating downtown congestion.
According to Fort Mill leaders, the new campus will include:
- A 17,000-square-foot administration building
- A 14,000-square-foot fleet maintenance facility
- A 16,900-square-foot warehouse
- Nearly 39,000 square feet of covered equipment storage
- A vehicle wash building
- A covered fueling station
DP3 Architects say the industrial-modern campus was designed with durability and a 50-year operational lifespan in mind.
The project received major support from the State of South Carolina through roughly $25 million in funding secured with help from former Representative Raye Felder.
Once operations relocate, the historic armory property at 131 E. Elliott Street could become a major redevelopment opportunity – possibly the new Winthrop college campus in downtown Fort Mill.
As Fort Mill continues ranking among the fastest-growing communities in the Charlotte region, town leaders say projects like the new Operations Center are becoming essential to keeping up with infrastructure and service demands.
