Almost three months after the Fayetteville City Council asked staff to explore bringing an amusement park to Cumberland County, Board of Commissioners Chairperson Glenn Adams quashed any hopes for a city-county partnership on the project during a joint city-county meeting.
“We’ve got like five projects on the table,” Adams said, noting there was “little to no interest” on the county’s part. “We just don’t have the ability with our staff to be able to move forward.”
Robert Van Geons, the president and CEO of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, first presented the idea to council members at a May 6 work session at the request of Council Member Brenda McNair.
“This is something that has come up at times and something that FCEDC staff has always believed would be a great fit for our community,” he said.
Assistant City Manager Jodi Phelps told officials Thursday the most recent feasibility study on bringing an amusement park to the region was done in 1999. Hiring a consultant to do a similar study in 2024 would cost about $75,000, she said. Stakeholders from the city, county, FCEDC, and DistiNCtly Fayetteville recommended bringing the issue to Thursday’s liaison meeting before taking further action, according to Phelps.
The liaison committee didn’t take any action on the amusement park issue, but an alternate plan for bringing more recreational opportunities to Cumberland County garnered far more excitement Thursday.
Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Director Michael Gibson presented his vision for a Cumberland County aquatic complex to the committee. Should that vision pan out, the county would see a 75,000-square-foot complex with 700 to 1,000 seats, according to Gibson. The complex would have 35,000 square feet of aquatic space with a competition pool, a therapeutic pool and a play area similar to indoor water park Great Wolf Lodge, he said. The other 40,000 square feet would be dedicated to a “human performance center” aimed at improving people’s minds and bodies, Gibson said.
The complex would cost between $35 and $40 million to build, according to Gibson — only slightly more than Hoke County’s James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center, which opened in June 2023 to the tune of $28 million, CBS 17 reported.
Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, who stood in Thursday for Commissioner Toni Stewart, was skeptical of Gibson’s proposed figures. Stewart is the committee’s vice chairperson but was out of town attending a Dept. of Social Services conference, as she also chairs that county committee, Adams said.
“Is 35 million really a realistic number?” Keefe asked. “It seems to me like we’re adding a lot more than 28 million that was identified probably before Covid.”
Gibson acknowledged inflation would always be a challenge, but told Keefe he felt his numbers were “solid.” A performance center would not require as many walls as the non-aquatic portion of Hoke County’s facility, Gibson said, so that part of the project would be less expensive than it seemed.
According to Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation, only four recreation centers in the county have pools — Seabrook Park; J.S. Spivey Recreation Center; Lake Rim Aquatic Center; and Westover Aquatic Center. None of those pools are indoors, a parks and recreation staffer told CityView.
Adams said his board is committed to partnering with the city on an aquatic complex.
“We’ve already talked about this,” he said. “We’re willing to move forward.”
The liaison committee voted unanimously to direct city and county staff to take the next steps in realizing the project.
In other business:
- Zachary Bugg, an engineer with Kittelson & Associates, presented an update on the city’s pedestrian plan project. Bugg said city staff and his team are working on an analysis of all 64 schools in the city to determine where to place new sidewalks and crosswalks. The city is also seeking feedback from the public on pedestrian needs through Aug. 31. The FAST Transit Center at 505 Franklin St. will host a public workshop Aug. 28 from 4 – 7 p.m. for those who wish to give feedback in person.
- In a back-to-school update on Cumberland County’s public schools, Cumberland County Board of Education Chairwoman Deanna Jones noted the school system had 49 vacancies in Exceptional Children teaching positions as of July 30. “That’s a big issue,” she said. “Not just with us.” Melody Chalmers McClain, the associate superintendent of student support services, said the school system is considering a sign-on bonus for Exceptional Children teachers using program funds. In the meantime, program leadership is filling in for those teaching positions, McClain said.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.