home

W

e know the Duck Pond — actually two ponds of water in the middle of town — mainly for being home of Oriental’s floating dragon, and for the way waters flood over nearby roads and yards several times a year.

Several citizens earlier this year suggested a garden park along the upper Duck Pond. The Town Board declined to seek any grant money for it at that point, but did create a Duck Pond Committee to weigh several ideas. Among them: replacing the flood-prone asphalt on Main Street at the Duck Pond with a pedestrian bridge; a bridge at flood-prone Hodges Street where the Duck Pond empties in to the harbor; dredging the Duck Pond; and, creating a park on the upper Duck Pond where the town now owns some of the land.

Now there is a conceptual drawing on the table.

Conceptual Drawing of “Raccoon Park” which takes its name from Raccoon Creek, aka, The Duck Pond.

The town’s Duck Pond Committee has been talking with an engineering and planning firm which has this month created a “Conceptual Master Plan”. The drawing, by John R. McAdams Company of Research Triangle Park, shows a footbridge over the Main Street part of the Duck Pond. The conceptual drawing also suggests closing Factory Street alongside the upper Duck Pond to traffic and turning it in to a park. Commissioner Candy Bohmert emphasizes that this is all in the very beginning stages.

You can take a look at it by clicking here:Duck Pond – Raccoon Park Concept.pdf More details may be gleaned Tuesday, October 14 at noon at Town Hall when the Duck Pond Committee meets. The meeting is open to the public.

Posted Monday October 13, 2008 by Melinda Penkava