Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009

WF opens big park

E. Carroll Joyner Park isn't a typical playground with a jungle gym and a tire big enough to sit on. Kids won't ride their bikes from one end to the other.

For Wake Forest, the 117-acre park is more ambitious, with its towering pecan trees, old farm buildings and restored log cabin.

Residents are elated that their small town finally has a park worthy of big events, scenic picnics and ample sports and recreation.

"We usually went to Duke Homestead or Oak View," said Linda Lang, whose 11- and 7-year-old daughters spent Saturday afternoon playing "Little House on the Prairie" and climbing through old farm buildings. "But finally, Wake Forest has a piece of beauty."

Stephen and Mary Baxter and their three children, who had lunch at the park Saturday, agree.

"It's pretty and quiet, and charming how they left the old buildings," Stephen Baxter said. "It gives Wake Forest some more green and recreational space."

The first section of Joyner Park opened Saturday. It features more than three miles of walking and biking trails, an amphitheater with 1,000 lawn seats, a pecan grove and several acres of well-manicured landscaping.

The new park, on Harris Road east of Capital Boulevard in northern Wake Forest, is the town's 10th and largest public recreation space.

The construction of a new community center at the park will begin soon. After that, the park will gain multiple soccer, baseball and softball fields, a playground and additional parking, said Susan Simpson, director of Wake Forest's department of Parks and Recreation.

The first phase cost about $1.5 million, and the next two will cost about $4 million each, Simpson said.

So far, the park is a hit.

"It's really big and really nice," said Steve Milligan, 40. "My kids love it."

Simpson said the town will leave half the park natural. The park is named after its former owner, who sold the land to Wake Forest in 2001.

After the park's opening Saturday, a celebratory bluegrass concert followed on Sunday night at the amphitheater.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 4.