The Center City Parks and Trails Plan builds on the previous work and city planning studies and provides a framework for expanding the Cross Creek Linear Park and connecting existing and planned parks in the downtown area with Fayetteville State University, surrounding neighborhoods, and other key destinations.
Fayetteville is blessed with a remarkable abundance of greenspace in, or adjacent to, its city center-Mazarick Park, MLK Jr. Park, Rowan Park, Veteran’s Park I and II, Festival Park, and Linear Park are impressive assets. This plan, the Center City Parks and Trails Plan, allows Fayetteville to see the full potential of these astonishing assets by connecting them and enhancing their beauty and usefulness with strategic improvements. It transforms currently disconnected greenspaces into a Center City Park System that provides an unparalleled amenity for neighborhoods, institutions, and businesses in the greater downtown.
Stewart’s Community Planning and Landscape Architecture practices worked with the City of Fayetteville’s planning and park and recreation departments and Urban Design Associates to create a master plan for public space that connects the Center City to surrounding neighborhoods. The plan is meant to be a blueprint for the future Center City Parks system. It focuses on enhancements of key parks, including the signature Cross Creek Linear Park, and outlines how to utilize additional public lands and natural resources through programming and public realm improvements. The goals of the plan include creating an identity and attractions, improving access, and knitting together different parts of downtown and nearby neighborhoods to improve quality of life, health, and pedestrian safety. It also provides opportunities for programming and culture, beautification and improvements to the tree canopy, and creating opportunities to improve the resiliency of the city and encourage revitalization.