White Deer Park opens

Posted November 3, 2009 at 10:25 pm and filed under City, Community. Updated November 9, 2009 at 1:46 pm.

Staff Reports

Those who showed up for White Deer Park’s grand opening Sunday, Nov. 1 saw firsthand one of nature’s immutable lessons on display: There’s no controlling the weather. Attendees braved chilly and wet conditions to celebrate the opening of Garner’s new 96-acre park.

The famous white deer, frozen in time, is on display at the new park. STAFF PHOTO

The famous white deer, frozen in time, is on display at the new park. STAFF PHOTO

Town officials hope the $4.2 million nature park — the town’s largest public project — will impart other lessons as well. They expect the park to help future generations learn about energy efficiency, sustainability and minimizing human impact on the natural world.

Watch a slideshow of pictures from the opening

To help deliver the message, the town gave out 200 white dogwood trees for citizens to take home.

They also offered a sample of the types of programs and exhibits the park will use to draw learners of all ages. Several animal foster groups, environmental educators and other exhibitors set up informational displays in the classroom of the park’s nature center. Visitors walked by exhibits on bluebirds, native snakes, worms and large birds, including a hawk and several owls.

There was even a tamed skunk — sans spray gland.

Exhibitors said the 2,500-square-foot green nature center will offer a portal for learners into the outside world.

“People are disconnected from much of the environment,” said Marty Wiggins, a community development program manager for the Office of Environmental Education of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “The public can come to this building and pick up a great deal about sustainable practices and local wildlife.”

A series of lessons

White Deer Park will likely be a popular destination for nature lovers from all over Wake County. Wiggins said educational programming at other nearby natural, passive parks such as Crowder District Park in Apex and Hemlock Bluffs in Cary are inundated with demand.

“The ones that exist are pretty full,” he said.

The nature center itself is a series of science lessons. For instance, the building’s system for capturing rainwater illustrates the potential in reusing natural resources. A sloped roof funnels rain into a gutter, feeding two 800-gallon galvanized steel cisterns. Water from the cisterns is used to supply the building’s toilets. The classroom floor is made of reclaimed wood from an old homestead that was on the property when it was a blueberry farm.

The center’s construction and design team is also working toward the U.S. Green Building Council’s Silver LEED rating, a nationally recognized benchmark for sustainable building. If successful, Garner will house one of only five public buildings with that distinction in Wake County.

Town Manager Hardin Watkins said the center and the park will improve with age too. By next spring, there are plans to have a wildflower meadow in bloom.

He hopes the park will serve as a teaching tool for youth, nature enthusiasts and even other municipalities.

“If they’re thinking about building something like the center, they may see what we’ve done and say, ‘I saw the one they have in Garner,’” Watkins said.

Educator Geraldine Currie, 56, has lived in Garner for 30 years. As she walked by exhibitors Sunday, Currie pondered spending more time with family inside the park. To many in the community, the park’s most important feature is its location across from Lake Benson Park.

“It is close enough to walk to,” she said.

The park is open year-round. Its hours of operation are from dawn until dusk. The nature center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Note: An earlier posting of this article incorrectly identified the hours of operation for White Deer Park. The Garner Citizen regrets the error.

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