SPENCER — The Town of Spencer is hosting its fourth annual National Night Out celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

All are invited to the Park Plaza (located at Salisbury Avenue and Fifth Street) in Spencer for free food and drinks, educational materials, and more from 5:30 p.m. until 8 p.m.

National Night Out promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. This nationwide observance provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.

“We invite our neighbors across the North Rowan community to join us for our fourth annual National Night Out event,” Spencer Police Chief Michael File said. “We’ve moved the event to October for cooler weather, so it’s an even better night to meet your neighbors and those serving the community. We encourage everyone to come to the event, as well as leave your porch lights on and walk around your neighborhood to visit with neighbors.”

This year’s event will begin with a groundbreaking ceremony for the Spencer Town Park construction project. After several years of planning for a new central park, the town recently awarded a construction contract to Ike’s Construction, Inc. in the amount of $2,175,700. The project will return a portion of the shopping center parking lot to what it once was, public green space.

Creating a downtown civic park was a favored recommendation of community stakeholders in the 2014 and updated 2022 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive plans. The project aims to further advance downtown revitalization and offer new amenities to locals as well as the many visitors to the N.C. Transportation Museum, N.C. Museum of Dolls, Toys and Miniatures, and other local destinations.

“After several years of so many exciting improvements in Spencer, we’re thrilled to begin construction of our new Town Park,” Mayor Jonathan Williams said. “Many in our town remember when this same area featured a large green space for the community to gather, and it is a dream come true to restore this space for our children, grandchildren and other future citizens and visitors to enjoy for years to come.”

The project has been awarded two grants from the N.C. Department of Commerce totaling $1,175,000, and $500,000 from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. The town has contributed $303,000 to the project over several years, including $228,000 in ARPA-enabled funding. In addition, a generous donation of $100,000 from Fred and Alice Stanback allowed the town to get started on planning and design work.

The town has established a goal of raising an additional $385,000 to complete the construction project and has identified several new grant opportunities to secure much of this amount. The town has also launched a community contribution campaign, where local individuals, civic organizations, businesses and other interested partners can join in this exciting and transformational project. Find out more at spencernc.gov.

The features in Spencer Town Park will include a community gathering lawn encircled with a paved walking loop, and multi-purpose open-air pavilion with a stage and restrooms. The pavilion will be used for picnicking as well as performances and community events. Additional features include picnic nodes with café tables and chairs and a fountain with an interactive water component.

The park will have suitable electrical and other infrastructure for events such as Winterfest, which has been one of several annual events hosted in the future park location over the last four years.

“This project is possible because of the vision and leadership of our Mayor and Board of Aldermen, support of our community, hard work of our staff, and the involvement of great partners,” Town Manager Peter Franzese said. “In addition to our current and future funding partners, we’re thankful to have the expertise of Jeff Ashbaugh and his team at Benesch, insight of local architect Pete Bogle and the Bogle Firm, and know-how of Andy Messmer and his crew at Ike’s Construction contributing to our park.”

This is the 41st year of National Night Out, and Spencer is one of 137 participating communities in North Carolina this year. The town is hosting this event with support from Cheerwine, Food Lion, Civic Federal Credit Union and F&M Bank.

Free hot dogs and fixings are being provided by Whosoever Will Let Them Come Ministries. Other highlights include an impaired driving simulator, emergency vehicle displays, booths featuring child safety information, safe medication disposal and much more.

Additional community partners involved with the event include the Spencer Moose Lodge, North Carolina Transportation Museum, New Hope Baptist Church, The Terrie Hess Children’s Advocacy Center, Communities in Schools, Spencer Fire and Public Works Departments and Novant Health.

National Sponsors of National Night Out are ADT, Associa, Family Dollar, Law Enforcement Against Drugs (L.E.A.D.), Nintendo, Starbucks, Swank Motion Pictures and 7-Eleven Cares Foundation. For more information, contact the Spencer Police Department at 704-633-3574.