This section offers Cary citizens an update on the projects funded by the Shaping Cary’s Tomorrow Parks and Transportation Bonds overwhelmingly approved in a 2019 referendum.

Downtown Cary Park Update

Downtown Cary Park has been under construction for one year and is nearing 50% completion. Five of the six buildings are now going vertical, and bridges and foundational stones are being placed. While construction moves forward, operational planning is also advancing, including filling a position that will oversee all the maintenance in the park.

Neighborhood Parks Groundbreaking 

In May, Cary held a groundbreaking celebration to recognize the start of construction for two neighborhood parks, one on Carpenter Fire Station Road and one on McCrimmon Parkway. The celebration featured music, ice cream, activities, and entertainment for about 400 attendees. Soon after, clearing and grading began at the two parks, which are being built simultaneously and will greatly expand recreational opportunities for the surrounding neighborhoods. Both parks are projected to open in late 2023. 

More than 500 campers ages 4 to 17 attended camps the first week after camps opened June 13 at eight different locations. A wide variety of camps are offered this summer, and camp specialties include visual arts, ceramics, performing arts, outdoor recreation, full-day summer camps, STEM, sports, skateboard, tennis, and many others. Camps will serve more than 5,700 children this summer across a dozen facilities. A sampling of parent comments from the first week:

•  “My daughter loved this camp and came home with beautiful artwork.” (Drawing Bootcamp)
• “Flag football coaches were so enthusiastic.” (Flag Football Camp)
• “Great experience from everyone from staff to instructors. Really great people and experience all around.” (Guitar Camp)
• “The staff included everyone and made it fun.” (Soccer Camp)

The 29th annual Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival welcomed more than 10,000 patrons and vendors to Bond Park for the first time in three years to celebrate North Carolina arts as well as host Cary’s Earth Day celebration. Attendees wandered the trails of Bond Park shopping for ceramics, jewelry, paintings, and more from their favorite local artists. Many enjoyed cold beverages from local breweries such as Cotton House, Fortnight Brewery, and Bull City Cider. Families enjoyed make-and-take crafts in Kids World. The Cary Arts Center raised more than $1,000 for the Play-It-Forward Scholarship Fund. Internationally-recognized topiary artist Michael Gibson showcased his talents through live topiary demonstrations. The festival made a triumphant return, blending the arts and sustainability and showcasing Cary’s largest park.  

In recognition of Pride Month, Cary offered a variety of activities in June for the community, including lighting the façade of the Cary Arts Center in rainbow colors; hosting LGBTQ+ films and discussions at The Cary Theater; erecting artist Matt McConnell’s rainbow art installation, “Evolution Field”; and launching an initiative to gather and document LGBTQ+ stories in Cary using a video story booth. Additionally, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion launched an LGBTQ+ educational program series for Town of Cary staff. Workshops were developed to equip staff with knowledge, awareness, and skills to become more inclusive, informed, and supportive allies to the LGBTQ+ community. Internally and externally, Cary is committed to fostering a safe and respectful environment for all people to live, work, and play.

The Easter Bunny delivered lots of eggs to Middle Creek High School football stadium and Alston Ridge Middle School football field on April 9. Nearly 700 children and their families attended this fun event, where they enjoyed pre-hunt entertainment by stilt walkers, jugglers, magicians, hoop artists, a mime, and of course the Easter Bunny. At 10 a.m. the start horn went off, and kids scrambled to grab eggs. They were given goodie bags for returning their empty eggs, and some even won special prizes.

Fly Away Home, Patrick Dougherty’s large-scale willow sculpture built by more than 100 community volunteers, is taking on a new life. A rarely seen phenomenon, the sculpture has rooted and is now a living sculpture. Students from Green Level High School, Cary’s “sculpture stewards,” are responsible for tending the new shoots, tucking and clipping where needed, over the next two years to help keep it a great experience for the community. Check out photographer Kurt Hilton’s documentary of the process at bit.ly/Caryfly.

On April 5, the N.C. Forest Service, N.C. State Parks, and Cary partnered to conduct the annual prescribed burn at Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. A total of one acre was burned along Chestnut Oak Loop Trail. Prescribed burns are a proven and safe way to reduce fuel loads in forests and other areas. Also in April, Cary, in partnership with the N.C. Forest Service and North Carolina State University Camcore, a nonprofit tree breeding organization, conducted a check and treatment for the hemlock woolly adelgid. The invasive, aphid-like insect, which first arrived at Hemlock Bluffs in 2010, attacks hemlock trees and has no native predators. This partnership saves Cary thousands of dollars every year, with checks and treatments occurring several times throughout the year.

For more than 20 years, SAS has been the title sponsor for the PGA Tour Champions SAS Championship, hosted at Prestonwood Country Club. For the 2022 event, the SAS Championship announced the inaugural SAS Championship Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Invitational, which will be played during the week of the SAS Championship and will include 17 teams — 6 women’s and 11 men’s — representing North Carolina Central University in Durham, Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, and Winston-Salem State University. Cary is a major sponsor of the SAS Championship.