Oakboro offers new attraction

Sunday, July 20, 2008 July 21, 2008 09:29 am

— Oakboro District Park, along Main Street, has a quality and beauty of which the town can be proud.
It is currently in its final year of a three-year grant the town received to make improvements to the park.
The improvements will need to be completed by June 30, 2009 to meet the requirements of the grant, but Town Administrator Larry Branch expects the improvements to be completed in about six months.
This grant, which was a matching grant where the town received $350,000 and had to match the same, was used to create the new baseball fields and install the lighting, walking bridges and pond aerator.
The final construction projects that will close out the grant include the building of a concession stand, amphitheater and dugouts.
“Our concession stand is going to be different than most,” Branch said.
Instead of the building being the traditional rectangular shape, it will be an 8-sided building with two separate concession windows that will face the individual baseball fields.
There will be restrooms in the back of the building, a canopy over the concession stand side and an upstairs that will be used by the announcers and scorekeepers.
To finish the design, a sidewalk will wrap around the building.
Both baseball fields have lighting for night games, and are lit for 300 feet. They also have adjustable baselines, so various age groups can use the field.
Carolina Green Corp. of Indian Trail completed the construction of both fields, which included the infield, the warning strips and the sod for the outfield.
The new concession stand, once completed, will be located between the two fields.
Located on the back side of the concession stand will be a football field. The town received a $55,000 grant from the Cannon Foundation to complete the field.
“We were hoping to use this field by September or October but we’re not 100 percent satisfied with it at the moment,” Branch said.
The dissatisfaction comes as a result of the need to haul in dirt for the field as the ground was too rocky. The field has since been seeded, and the rate at which the grass grows will determine if the town is 100 percent satisfied come September.
Currently, the field is receiving irrigation in an attempt to make the grass grow, but none of the irrigation comes from potable water.
“The water for the irrigation comes out of the pond, which is fed from a well,” Branch said.
Also located in the 44-acre park is a pond, complete with a fountain and walking bridge with a gazebo.
There are also two picnic pavilions, a playground, several horseshoe pits, restrooms and more than 2,500 feet of walking trails.
A new walking trail was recently completed, which includes two walking bridges. Not only can the new trail be used by walkers who want to come out to the park for a leisurely stroll, but it will also be used to connect the new parking lot to the park.
The parking lot, which can hold up to 100 cars, will be used for event parking with the new amphitheater.
With the completion of the amphitheater, a new and interesting venue will become available for those interested in holding a wedding at the park or for music and other forms of entertainment.
The design for the structure will be similar to the amphitheater in City Lake Park in Albemarle with an adjacent hillside available for seating.
“People will be able to come out and bring lawn chairs or blankets,” Branch said.
An area near the new parking lot and amphitheater will soon be cleared to bring in more picnic tables. Branch said the idea is that families can come out and enjoy the park or watch a ball game and not have to leave to find something to eat.
“The park is really shaping up great. It’s hard to believe that there used to be an old barn back here,” Branch said.
The land the park now sits on used to belong to Stanly Knitting, but was purchased by Via Properties LLC.
The town then approached Via Properties about purchasing 44 acres of the land for a park.
“They were really accommodating for us, and we were able to make that purchase in 2001 or 2002,” Branch said.
The town has since received three grants to complete the work on the park, each of which were matching grants.
The first grant was for $250,000, the second was for $117,000 and the town had to match the same for each grant.
So combined with the third grant, the town has received $717,000 and has matched the same, bringing the total cost for improvements to the park at more than $1.4 million.
Branch said it has all been worth it, though, because so many of the residents of Oakboro and surrounding areas use the park.
“Our picnic pavilions stay booked up on the weekends and if you come out here in the late afternoons or early evenings, there are usually a lot of people out here,” Branch said.
For those interested in using the picnic pavilions, a $50 reservation fee can be paid at Oakboro Town Hall and a reserved sign will be placed on the shelter.
Branch said the shelters are free to use without a reservation fee, but they are on a first-come-first-serve basis.
In order to keep up with the maintenance of the park, Rodney Hahn, who has worked part-time with the town for seven years, was recently hired to be the full-time parks and recreation director.
He will be responsible for the mowing of the fields, which will be done with a reel-type mower that was recently purchased by the town.
Hahn will also be responsible for laying off the fields with lime during ball season, as well as taking over collecting the fee for the shelters.
He also opens the gates at 7 a.m. and closes them at 10 p.m. daily, which are the hours of operation for the park.
Plans are to place an office for Hahn in the maintenance building located in the park.

Contact Tiffany Thompson at (704) 982-2121 ext. 24 or snaponline24@carolina.rr.com.

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