The City of Greer's new Sports & Events Center is on track to open in 2027, and getting to the finish line requires many different teams working together and pushing toward the same goal.
Harper is a family-owned company that started in Williamston, South Carolina in 1950. The company’s headquarters is in Greenville, but Harper now has offices across the southeast region.
Harper and its trade partners are building Greer’s new Sports & Events Center on 26 acres off Highway 14 and S. Buncombe Road. So far in 2026, Harper’s focus has been on putting up pre-cast concrete walls manufactured by Metromont in Greenville County and installing steel structural supports. In spite of some serious winter weather in January, the construction timeline is still on track.
Pictured above: Metromont worker hand-placing brick veneers into a mold for pre-cast concrete walls
Justin Dreibrodt is Harper’s superintendent on site. He grew up in Travelers Rest and is excited to be a part of this project. Justin leads the day-to-day efforts on site and makes sure there are systems in place to monitor safety and quality and maintain the project schedule.
“As the general contractor, we really take responsibility for the entire construction process,” Dreibrodt said. “We worked on this job long before we actually had boots on the ground here.”
Pictured above: Justin Dreibrodt, Harper's on-site superintendent
Harper collaborated with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture as the team designed the 200,000 square-foot facility. That coordination helped save time and money down the road. Harper and MPS will continue to work closely with each other and the City of Greer throughout the construction phase.
The Harper team in the field also collaborates with many other departments that are supporting the project behind the scenes. A construction technology group uses computer modeling and other programs to coordinate with trade partners and identify potential problems before they happen. Harper’s office team, IT team, and accounting and marketing professionals all play critical roles in the project.
Harper utilizes all the high-tech tools one might expect to see on a project of this size, but an “old school” organizational tool helps them keep everything straight. You can get a real sense of the complicated logistical coordination this project requires by walking inside the construction trailer. Dreibrodt and his team have lined the walls with a dry erase calendar and dozens of color-coded sticky notes. That oversized “planner” serve as a daily, visual reminder of the project timeline, ordering and delivery deadlines, and trade partner schedules. Dreibrodt and his team manage the moving parts with expertise and a lot of patience.
Dreibrodt said the project team is all local, and they take a lot of pride in this job that allows them to build a lot of “really cool things.” Many of them have friends and family members who will utilize the Sports & Events Center after it’s open in 2027.
Dreibrodt said on the long, hard days of working outside through the winter, the team often thinks about the kids, students, and adults who will gather together and make memories in the facility they’re building.
“I think that’s what helps really … push us through some of the tough times of trying to get a project over the finish line,” he said.
