In full swing: Woodleaf Park takes over old elementary school site
Published 12:10 am Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Rowan County Commissioner Jim Greene did the honors of cutting the ribbon to christen the new Woodleaf Park. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Plenty of kids were enjoying the new Woodleaf Park on Saturday morning. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
A park isn't complete without a swing set. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Every kid at Woodleaf Park was having a fun time. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
There's nothing like playing on a brand-new jungle gym. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
Don Bringle said they were able to save this headstone from the old elementary school. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
SALISBURY — Though Woodleaf Elementary closed its doors in 2017 due to them consolidating with Cleveland Elementary, its legacy will continue as the new Woodleaf Park.
On April 13, Woodleaf Park had its official ribbon cutting ceremony where citizens and park stakeholders had the opportunity to see their years of hard work finally pay off.
Rowan County commissioners Jim Greene and Craig Pierce, as well as County Manager Aaron Church, attended the county’s sixth park grand opening. Woodleaf Park includes a playground, swing set, picnic areas, sidewalks, exercise equipment and a sports field. Benesch, a Charlotte engineering firm, designed the project and Randolph & Son Builders were responsible for constructing it.
“I think the transformation far exceeds what we thought we could do,” Director of Parks and Recreation Don Bringle said.
Two main features Bringle is excited that they got to keep are the water tower and the Woodleaf Elementary School headstone that is on display as cars drive in.
After the county and the Rowan-Salisbury School System partnered to obtain the 10-acre property, they then applied for and received a $354,346 North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Grant to help pay for the roughly $1 million park in 2022.
Bringle said Greene was the initial force behind getting the park off the ground and Greene said he feels proud for leading the charge so that families can have somewhere to be together.
“To come up here and see the kids already enjoying it, it makes you know that you were doing the right thing and spending money where people can use it. That’s what parks are for,” Greene said.
Also in attendance were Trey Fouche and Charlynne Smith from North Carolina State University, who administered the matching trust fund grant to go towards the park. According to them, the Woodleaf Park project stood out in making it worthy of the grant.
“This was a part of Rowan County that was sort of a ‘park desert’ and they needed a park and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Authority Board recognized that and helped reward Rowan County for trying to meet the recreation needs for the entire Rowan County community,” Fouche said.
Keri Meyers and her five-year-old son came to the ribbon cutting ceremony on a beautiful Saturday morning and Meyers said they plan to come back on other beautiful Saturday mornings in the future.
“It’s great! It’s amazing! The community really needed this,” Meyers said. “We’ll definitely be up here a lot.”
For Pierce, seeing this park reminds him of his childhood in Cleveland and how some things have changed for the better in the decades since.
“Sixty years ago, I used to play ball in that ball field because I grew up in Cleveland and it’s a transformation that I would’ve never have conceived at that age that this is the way it was going to turn out, but I’m glad that it has. It’s a great addition to the community. It’s time that this end of the county was recognized with a park,” Pierce said.
