Parks and Rec

There are 153 posts filed in Parks and Rec (this is page 8 of 16).

Raleigh raises fees for youth sports, park rentals

In addition to the Mordecai article, I was also quoted in a separate Midtown Raleigh News article on the new parks fees.

Many parks fees had not been raised for several years, parks board members noted. For example, the citywide youth sports registration fee has been $12 since 2004.

“This is an opportunity to make adjustments that have been needed for a while,” said board chairman Mark Turner. “I didn’t feel they were necessarily drastic … The variety of programs and offerings are still a very good deal for the public.”

via Raleigh raises fees for youth sports, park rentals – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

New option emerges for Mordecai park center

I was quoted in today’s Midtown Raleigh News on the new option for Mordecai Historic Park’s Interpretive Center. (Also, see the parks fees story. Two articles in one day!)

An earlier proposal involved using part of the park’s main lawn for a contemporary, window-lined building to house the center. Opponents banded together to fight the proposal, saying the building would clash with the historic charm of the park, home to Raleigh’s most significant antebellum plantation.

“We heard it loud and clear: Nobody wanted to put more buildings on the property,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the city parks board. “This solves that problem.”

via New option emerges for Mordecai park center – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Highlights of 2011: Parks board

Last year was the year I became chair of Raleigh’s Parks board after three years serving on the board. It was something I could not have imagined when I started out and yet here I am.

Looking back, I did have some preparation for the role. As a boardmember I attended many of the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, I chaired my first meeting right after my election as vice-chair, and I filled in for the chair to speak at other park dedications the times he could not be present. I figured I could do the job, so why not take the next step and do it?
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New location proposed for Mordecai Interpretive Center

As I hinted in my post from earlier this week, today the Raleigh City Council approved moving forward with the purchase of a home that may one day become the Mordecai Historic Park Interpretive Center. The plans were announced during the council’s Budget and Economic Development real estate report.

The plan is for the city to renovate the home of the late Arthur Danielson, who lived at the corner of Wake Forest Road and Cedar Street up until his death in April of 2011. The home dates from 1913, provides almost 5,000 square feet, fronts Wake Forest Road, and is directly adjacent to the park.
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Highlights of 2011: Mordecai Historic Park

It was a bit unexpected that Mordecai Historic Park would become a milestone of the year 2011. I’ve served on this sleepy little board as the Parks Board liaison since I joined the Parks board but the last year was by far the most eventful.

Things really heated up in the spring when the board was presented with the location options for the Mordecai Historic Park Interpretive Center that’s been on the books for a number of years now. I’ve extensively covered on the blog the pros and cons and the thoughts behind my decision-making process, so I won’t do so again. Highlight entries are for reflection from a bit more distance, though, so from this perspective I see the growth opportunity this event provided me.
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Pullen Park train, now with no waiting?

Pullen Park Train


There have been many positive news stories about the newly-remodeled Pullen Park and the plaudits are rightfully deserved. The renovations brought new life to the park and attracted huge crowds to what was already a popular park. There is one issue with the park that wasn’t addressed by the renovation. In fact, the renovation has made it a bigger problem than ever.

I’m talking about the line for the train. It’s often way too long, trapping families when they could be enjoying the park.

I’ve been pondering a solution to this and I think I’ve found one. It occurred to me that boarding the train is what it used to be like boarding a Southwest Airlines flight: you buy your ticket and wait in line for eventual “open seating” boarding.
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State park spam

Over the holiday weekend my inbox filled up with angry messages as the North Carolina State Parks system inadvertently set up an open email list with 47,000 subscribers. One person, apparently having made one too many trips to the eggnog bowl, sent an anti-tax tirade to the entire list, which caused a chain-reaction that lasted for days and days. One after another, subscribers demanded to be removed from the list, which only perpetuated the problem as each fruitless request needlessly clogged the inbox of 47,000 other subscribers.

Having run mailing lists for several years, I know these things can happen. Thus, I was more amused than angry as several dozens of clueless people continued to annoy everyone else with their unsubscription requests. In spite of this week’s snafu, I hope the state continues to use email and other means to tout our beautiful state parks!

Proof that good things come back to you

That looks familiar . . .


At tonight’s meeting of Raleigh’s Parks board, we were given nice Tervis plastic mugs as a token of the city’s gratitude for our service. As I was leaving tonight’s holiday meeting, I burst out laughing to discover that the picture adorning the mug is my public domain picture of Raleigh!

Out of all the unexpected places to see my photo, this one really cracked me up! I never expected to be handed my own photograph as a gift!

The mug has the North Carolina League of Municipalities’s name on it. I’m guessing the League asked cities to submit photographs of their city for their respective mugs, because the photo on the mug is apparently the one that Raleigh’s public affairs department has retouched to remove a street lamp and a crane.

It gave me a good laugh!

Pullen Park speech

Pullen Park ribbon-cutting

Here are my written remarks from the Pullen Park dedication Saturday. I frequently compose my speeches on the fly but Pullen Park is important so I spent more time on this one.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for this day for 124 years!

Today we celebrate the grand opening of a park that actually opened 124 years ago. Hard to believe, isn’t it? I did a little research to get a better idea of what Pullen Park’s first grand opening must have been like.

On that day in March 22nd, 1887 when Mr. Stanhope Pullen donated the land that created Pullen Park, N.C. State University was a mere fifteen days old. Fayetteville Street – where this morning’s Christmas Parade took place – had only been paved for a decade. Raleigh sprawled to almost two square miles and had a booming population of 13,000; qualifying it as the fifth largest city in our state.
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Coverage of Pullen Park

Here are a few links to the media coverage of the Pullen Park grand opening.

News14 Carolina’s story features a quote from my speech and a good shot of the Turner kids during the ribbon-cutting.

Pullen Park ribbon-cutting


NBC17 also had a good story but only has a brief clip of the Turners during the ribbon-cutting:

WTVD sent a reporter and had a brief story but didn’t post the story video.

T. Keung Hui wrote a story for the News and Observer but there’s no mention of me (nor any pictures of the ribbon).

As far as I can tell, WRAL didn’t even show up. I guess they had their hands full with the parade coverage.