Times have been tough for everyone during this pandemic. Even through everything, Hurley Park has been grateful to provide a brief and relaxing respite for everyone. Our park has had an enormous increase in visits and below are some of the questions we have been receiving on a weekly if not daily basis.

Question: Are you still open and are there any protocols we have to follow? 

Answer: Yes, we are still open to the public and our hours are still from sunup to sundown. We have had an increase in visitors so we recommend practicing social distancing. Because of the increase in visitors, some of the times/hours have more visitors than usual so it is best to bring a mask. We are also receiving a large amount of trash outside of the trashcans. There are more than 13 trashcans in the park, please help us keep the park clean by using the provided trashcans. There has also been dog waste on the paths and in the beds. Hurley Park has stations with dog mess bags, please use them so that we can help keep the park clean and disease free (since dog waste can spread diseases to other dogs).

Question: Can we rent the park? We want to have a small event next week and we are only going to have like 15 people?

Answer: Unfortunately, we are not renting any of the parks or facilities at this time due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Once the state and the city alleviate the restrictions that will allow events to be held the park will begin to accept reservations.

Question: You have some areas that are getting a little weedy. Why haven’t you cleaned these areas?

Answer: Right now, we are having to adjust our working schedules and rotate to reduce close contact with co-workers and park attendees. There are only two staff members at the park and with reduced hours and an increase in park presence, staff are doing all they can to keep up with park maintenance. Please bear with us during this time.

Question: There is a beautiful tree with white blooms all over it near the gazebo, what is it?

Answer: This is the beautiful Kousa Dogwood. This specimen in the park is one of the largest I have seen and always has the most blooms. It comes in after our native dogwood and has unique edible fruits in the fall. Our assistant manager, Sarina Dellinger, named it as one of our plants of the week recently and shared it on our social media.

Question: Why do you have the pond fountain cut off?

Answer: We have been having some issues with the fountain and it keeps getting clogged. Since the fountain is expensive to repair/replace and we had recently repaired it, we do not want to run the risk of destroying it during these tough economic times. We also need assistance removing the fountain to check and clean it to see what is causing the problems. Once we inspect and have it resolved, we hope to have the fountain running again.

Thanks for all of the questions about Hurley Park. If you ever have additional questions about the park or what is in bloom, please give us a call at 704-638-4459 or contact us on Facebook or Instagram @HurleyParkNC. If you would like to donate to Hurley Park visit our website at https://salisburync.gov/Government/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks/Hurley-Park .