Residents raise concerns over ‘declining conditions’ at Greenfield Park as city invests in new parks
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY-TV) – After the city of Wilmington cut the ribbon on new updates at Olsen Park and committed to a new 25-acre park, now some residents have said its historic Greenfield Lake Park is seeing “declining conditions.”
Greenfield Lake Park is often known for its serene, peaceful environment with lots of wildlife, amenities and a more than four mile paved trail.
“Alligators, turtles hang out, there’s a lot of turtles over there, it’s real quiet,” said Willian Barnham.
Barnham has been a wheelchair for the past several months and visits a few times every week and said while some parts of the park are wheelchair friendly, it’s paved trail is not.
“When I roll through I have a hard time, I have to roll in the road due the sidewalk being bumpy,” Barnham said.
Barnham said broken pavement and tree root upheaval are to blame. These same concerns were raised during a city council meeting earlier this month.
“These uneven surfaces create accessibility issues and safety hazards,” said E.J. Hanley.
Hanley, another Wilmington resident spoke with council members and said the park is in need of additional maintenance workers on top of the three that are already assigned to the park.
“Cleaning bathrooms, replacing rotting wooden planks on the bridges, maintain turf and much more, they are dedicated professionals but they are clearly overextended,” Hanley said.
Mayor Bill Saffo agreed that the park is in need of a facelift.
“We need to do some stuff around Greenfield Lake that is a prestigious, used to be the most prestigious park in the entire region and I know that we are going to be talking about a lot this during our budget process,” Saffo said.
The city allocates $270,000 a year in maintenance and claims it has invested $1.5 million in the park over the last ten years, the bulk of which city spokesperson, Amy Willis said:
“has been spent in the last two years on skatepark repairs, demolition of Lion’s Bridge, and engineering services for the design of a replacement bridge, building pickleball courts, trail resurfacing, and a replacement gazebo at the Fragrance Garden.”
Despite current conditions, Barham isn’t turned off by a visit to the park.
“I would encourage people in wheelchairs if they would like a nice peaceful serene day is to come out and just kind of roll around,” Barham said.
The city, county and The New Hanover Community Endowment committed over $9 million for a new park at Greenville Loop Road. The city will put together a master plan over the next five years before construction begins.
