Horseshoe Farm Park

Lappas + Havener, PA - Prime Design Consultant

Frank Harmon Architect, PA - Architect

BioHabitats - Ecological Consultant

Mulkey Engineers and Consultants - Civil Engineering

Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) District: Northeast

Meeting Update

The Raleigh City Council approved Concept 3 for the planned Horseshoe Farm Park at their October 4, 2011 meeting.

Design Phase

Horseshoe Farm Park consists of approximately 146 acres on an oxbow of the Neuse River in northeastern Wake County. The property was purchased in 1994 to serve as a future park site. The upland fields have been farmed as crops or pasture for generations. The floodplain forests adjacent to the Neuse River are designated by the State of North Carolina as a Significant Natural Heritage Area due to the presence of bottomland hardwood forests, wetlands and a system of natural river levees.

The Horseshoe Farm Park Master Plan was drafted with considerable input from the public. A citizen's master plan committee was formed to lead the master planning effort. The initial master plan was adopted by the Raleigh City Council on May 15, 2007 and was revised by Council on March 17, 2009. The Master Plan Report is linked to the right.

The funding source for this project is the 2000 Parks and Recreation Bond Referendum.

Phase I development includes improvements to the entrance drive and dam, parking, signage, natural resource managment, soft surface walking trails, connection to Neuse River Greenway. Budget permitting, additional improvements may include a picnic shelter, restroom facility, and stabilization of the existing farm house.

Future Phase components include the Education/Art Center, public art, playground, observation areas, amphitheatre, additional parking, camping area, canoe launch.

Sustainability Features

Horseshoe Farm Park has been selected by the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) to participate in a new program testing the nation's first rating system for green landscape design, construction and maintenance. This international pilot project will evaluate the new SITES rating system for sustainable landscapes. Sustainable landscapes can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitats, while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and municipalities. Staff is thrilled to be selected to join more than 150 other projects in this pilot program.

For more information on the Sustainable Sites Initiative visit http://www.sustainablesites.org/

Phase 1

Design Development - May to October 2011

Construction Doumentation - October to December 2011

Bid Coordination - March to April 2012

Construction - July 2012 to July 2013