Parks and Rec to build playground and skate park

Wake Forest Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department Director Ruben Wall did not take up much time during the town board’s annual retreat Friday, but he sure packed a lot into his time.
First, the department will build an inclusive playground at Holding Park, opening it this summer. It will be a “fully ramped playground for people of all mobility ranges” including those in wheelchairs, Wall said.
The playground will have seating and shaded areas as well as outdoor musical equipment, but most of all it will give the users “multiple sensory experiences, including tactile, visual, auditory, spatial and vestibular.”
All that is fully funded at $955,000 by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Next up is the Skate & Pump Park at $4.4 million that will open in the spring of 2024 on what is now a wooded parcel tucked between the Northern Wake Senior Center and an assisted living center. The town is purchasing the land from Jane Wright and James and Carol Warren.
The town is applying for a PARTF grant of $500,000. There will be launch ramps, rails and ledges for skaters and mountain/BMX bikers. The park will also include restrooms, a future amphitheater and outdoor fitness equipment.
The town is also entering a partnership with Fungo Baseball Partnership for Field #2 at Flaherty Park which will include sharing the costs of several upgrades to the field, including an ADA accessible ramp from the parking lot to the field, a new PA system, new bleachers, enhanced dugouts and bleachers. The total cost is estimated at $480,000.
And finally, there are the upgrades and new installations. At a cost of $3.6 million, the department will replace the lighting systems at the Flaherty Park other ball fields and the tennis courts. The current equipment has been discontinued and cannot be replaced.
Finally, the parks and rec department will do away with the portable toilets and build permanent bathrooms at the Smith Creek Soccer Center, Tyler Run Park, Miller Park and the Flaherty Park Tennis and Pickleball courts. Total investment is $7.2 million, but remember, the town has to run water and sewer lines to these new facilities.
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