July 13, 2009
 
Charlotte, NC – Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department invites interested citizens to a community workshop about ideas and suggestions on Phase I development of the new Palisades Park in southern Mecklenburg. The workshop will be held Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 6:30pm at Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, 15000 York Road.

Palisades Park will be built across York Road from the entrance of McDowell Nature Preserve. It will especially serve recreational needs of the nearby Palisades subdivision off NC Highway 49. The park will be developed on a joint site along with a new CMS elementary school and a high school. The facilities may share parking, and the park will be open to the public after school hours and on weekends.
 
Park and Recreation expects to build a neighborhood park which might typically include a playground, walking trails, picnic sites/shelter, athletic fields, etc. But given the park’s setting within a two school campus, it could be a unique facility in terms of amenities, physical boundaries, and operation. The exact size of the park and schools is still being determined. The community workshop is for the public to discuss their views and recommendations.

Phase I of the park will be paid for with about $311,500 in Park and Recreation bonds, approved to voters in 2008. The preliminary schedule calls for opening the park and elementary school possibly as early as 2010. Additional phases of the campus would be developed later.

At the workshop, staff from Park and Recreation and the school system will brief citizens on the status and background of the project. The Southwest Park District Advisory Council will lead an open discussion of community needs/desires about the park.  Two or three workshops will be eventually held for further public participation as the plan is developed.

For more information: contact Park Planner David Nelson: 704 336–8455.