SPENCER — The state has awarded $200,000 to the effort to preserve a 40-acre hardwood forest in Spencer and turn it into a natural public park.
Gov. Bev Perdue last week announced the grant for the Stanback Educational Forest and Park project. The town of Spencer and LandTrust for Central North Carolina are working together to preserve the forest and create a passive recreation park in honor of Fred and Alice Stanback, long-time conservation advocates in Rowan County.
The money is part of a $1,399,375 grants package from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to four local governments for parks and recreation projects.
The LandTrust has been raising funds to buy the 40-acre tract — called “Spencer Woods” by neighbors — from Craft Development, a Charlotte-based real estate development company that planned last year to clear-cut, grade and re-plant the land in loblolly pine trees.
The forest runs along South Rowan Avenue between 17th and 11th streets.
Read more in Tuesday’s Post.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.