CPP News Reprint

The News & Observer

Chapel Hill News

July 7, 2004

Group has shady plans for Town Commons

Author: Dave Hart; Staff Writer

CARRBORO -- In keeping with its purpose as a community gathering space for various outdoor events -- concerts, films, festivals and, of course, the Carrboro Farmers Market -- the Carrboro Town Commons is mostly open space.

That means the commons has plenty of room and unobstructed sight lines.

It also means that during the heat of the summer, there's precious little refuge from the baking sun. The tot lot playground, in particular, is so exposed that during the middle part of the day it's all but unusable.

The Carrboro Parks Project -- the people who succeeded in getting a fence built to enclose the leash-free dog park at Anderson Community Park -- is planning to throw a little shade on the subject.

"When you go to the Farmers Market, it's pretty clear that more shade there would be a good thing," said Susan Stone, who is spearheading the effort by the Parks Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and improving the parks and recreational areas and facilities in Carrboro. "And at the tot lot there's no shade at all. So we're working to raise funds to put some shade trees on the commons, and a shade sail structure over the tot lot."

The Parks Project has worked with the Farmers Market Association and Carrboro's staff to draw up a shade plan for the Town Commons.

The plan calls for a row of crepe myrtles to replace the photinias along the Town Commons border with Laurel Avenue, where a sidewalk is eventually planned to run. A larger shade tree will go along the southern edge of the commons, and another, a shumard oak, will be planted in the northwest corner, near the parking lot.

A shade sail -- a structure with four sail-shaped fabric "wings" -- will go over the tot lot.

Two junipers and five hollies have already been planted at points in the commons.

"We spent a lot of time going over various looks to figure out what would look good," Stone said. "The town uses the commons for a lot of different things, so they want to keep the middle area open. Our idea was simply to provide some supplemental shade around the edges."

The Board of Aldermen has given the project a green light, and the Parks Project has begun raising funds to pay for the plantings and the shade sail.

The project raised money with a grilling night on the Weaver Street Market lawn in June and has another one planned for Aug. 19. Volunteers sold ice cream during Carrboro's July 4 celebration, and the project staffs a regular booth at the Farmers Market.

The Parks Project has gained a $1,500 grant from the Strowd Roses Foundation, and has applied for an $8,000 grant from the American Academy of Dermatology, which funds projects that promote skin health.

The Carrboro Parks Project grew out of the town of Carrboro's 1999 purchase of a tract on Hillsborough Road for what recently was named Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The Board of Aldermen commissioned a citizens committee to look into various funding sources that might be tapped to buy and develop the land.

That committee evolved into the Carrboro Parks Project, which incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in September 2001.

The group's first project was to raise money to erect a fence around the leash-free dog park in order to prevent dogs from straying into nearby N.C. 54. The Parks Project raised $5,000 toward the fence, and the town, as a gesture of support for the organization's efforts, approved an additional $3,500.

"During the talks about the Martin Luther King Park land, it became clear that there was a need for a non-profit organization to help acquire and improve recreational facilities of many different kinds, " Stone said. "When we started looking at the dog park, we had no idea how popular it would be, but it's been a great success.

"One of our members suggested this as a good project for us after we got the dog park fence done. We're a member- and comment-driven organization, and we were looking for a few smaller projects to get our feet wet before we tackle some bigger ones. We are looking to grow and continue working on larger and longer-term projects."

More information about the Town Commons shade project and the Carrboro Parks Project is available on the organization's Web site, www.carrboroparks.org.