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Here is How We Can Fix Our Parks
A perspective from Renuka Soll
As a Chapel Hill Parks, Greenways, and Recreation Commission member for nearly six years, I’ve witnessed the ongoing struggle with our park system to pay deferred maintenance costs and build new facilities. The lack of funds has left our parks dilapidated, and Chapel Hill is struggling to keep up with the growing demand for new facilities and keep pace with our neighbors.
Since I joined the Commission, the need for a bond has been a recurring topic, and it’s high time we address this issue.
Our dire funding needs include money to follow through on promises to build Legion Park, connect the town’s greenway system, create more youth sports fields – not to mention catching up on millions of dollars of deferred maintenance.
To put our town’s limited amenities in perspective, the private Chapel Hill Tennis Club has 29 tennis courts, 12 dedicated pickleball court, and its membership costs around $2,000 annually. In contrast, Chapel Hill has just 14 tennis courts in all of Chapel Hill. Currently, the four courts at Ephesus are in good shape, and the three courts at Hargraves are being worked on. The remaining seven have cracked surfaces and are in dire need of repair. Meanwhile, pickleball players have 6 dedicated courts at Ephesus Park, share two additional courts with tennis, and some games are even played on a shared roller hockey rink at Southern Community park. We clearly have too few courts for a town of 62,000 residents and growing. Our residents shouldn’t have to join an expensive private club to play a recreational sport.
Chapel Hill’s town council plans to issue a $50M bond in 2024 or 2025. The residents will get a chance to vote on it on election day. The question is what the bond can be used for. Despite council members talking about parks and greenspace during the election, early indications are that parks may be an afterthought yet again.
Our town has many competing needs, including a new police station, more fire trucks, replacement garbage trucks, more affordable housing – but it is also essential to fix and grow our park system. Our neighboring towns know how important parks are and have been raising bonds to expand and improve their parks as they grow. In 2022, Raleigh passed a $275M bond, Greensboro passed a $70M bond, Matthews passed a $14M bond, and Concord passed a $60M bond. Shouldn’t we also have the same opportunities for our parks?
This November, Durham will ask voters for a $200M bond for parks, streets, and sidewalks. This equates to about $670 capita for parks. Raleigh is building a $125.4M racquet and paddle facility, including tennis and pickleball courts. They will break ground early this summer. Wake County voted to lease 151 acres of forested land from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) for ten years to create a public off-road cycling area. And the list of great new parks goes on and on – but not in Chapel Hill.
Many Chapel Hill residents have observed neighboring cities making great progress with their parks and sports facilities and have expressed their desire for similar improvements. Dedicating $7.75M of the $50M bond money is the bare minimum that we need to help us meet our basic park needs. In contrast, imagine the possibilities if we dedicated even more than $7.75M. With a per capita bond in keeping with our neighboring cities, we could transform our park system into something truly fantastic, just like the ones around us giving our community a renewed sense of pride and enjoyment.
You may be wondering about the new penny tax. This is the first year of the “penny-for-parks” tax. It will provide a little under $1M per year, which no doubt is a welcome boost. This fund benefits smaller projects, especially deferred maintenance. This year, we plan to use it to repair the 6 dilapidated tennis courts at Cedar Falls Park. Other projects, such as the much-anticipated splashpad, will have to wait. Without a meaningful investment in our parks, we will continue to slip behind our neighbors.
Now, what are the essential needs for our parks system? With $7.75M in bonds, we could finally build the splash pad we were promised. A splash pad was not only on the 2013 Parks Master Plan, but also requested by Chapel Hill residents in a petition with over 1,000 signatures. The demand is there. We need a splash pad with restrooms and parking.
Pickleball is an exciting, popular, and fast-growing sport. Chapel Hill’s dedicated pickleball community was so appalled at the limited courts that they offered to raise half the money to build more courts, hoping that our town can match the other half of the bonds’ funds.
The planning for Morgan Creek East Greenway has been completed, but we need more than just plans. We need the money to build it. Constructing this greenway will connect schools, shopping, parks, healthcare opportunities, and UNC.
The restrooms at Cedar Falls Park are on a septic system, and we need to connect them to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA). The current on-site sewage system facility was designed for a park built in the 1970s and a restroom constructed in 2012. We have wanted to make this connection for years. The park’s usage has increased, partly due to the installation of synthetic turf fields. This number is expected to grow even more after the reconstruction of the tennis courts. The site needs to improve the restrooms and expand its parking lot to make it more accessible for everyone.
The parking lot and sidewalks at Hargraves need to be made ADA-compliant. This project is significant since the tennis court repairs will be completed this summer, and the demand at that site will increase.
Additionally, the pool at Homestead Park is leaking. Installing New PVC Pool Liner will stop the water leakage and save our town unneeded expenses.
We can begin to make quick progress on our parks by dedicating $7.75M in bond money to parks. However, if we want to think about the future, we may want to consider the potential of more bond money.
Other towns feel the need to invest in their parks system. They know parks are essential and are not a luxury. Why doesn’t Chapel Hill think that too? $7.75M would be good start toward addressing some of the overdue parks projects that have been deferred for years, but even more funding is needed to make our parks system something we can be proud of and to meet the demand.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
