Wake commissioners quadruple size of Apex park

The park, which features three playgrounds, a boardwalk and interpretive gardens, is the third-most-visited park in Wake County, drawing more than 155,000 people in the 2017-18 fiscal year, officials said. But at just 33 acres, it’s also the second smallest county park.

"There’s a lot of activity packed into this small park," Emerson Barker, deputy director of Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space, said in a statement. "We’re excited for this opportunity to expand it and further meet the needs of this growing part of Wake County."

Doris Crowder donated the 33 acres off Ten-ten Road to the county in 1992, and the park opened six years later. Since then, county officials tried to acquire adjacent property to expand it but were unsuccessful.

Eight parcels of land to the north of the park, totaling 96 acres, became available this year, and the county bought them for $4.9 million total. Crowder County Park is surrounded by housing developments to the east, west and south, officials said, so the land purchase is the only opportunity the park has to grow.

The county will use $1.7 million from the parks bonds voters approved last fall, $3.1 million from the Little River Reimbursement Fund and the about $78,000 from money set aside for open space by developers.

County officials will spend a few years master planning the larger park, including gathering public input. Park upgrades should be completed by 2025, and uses could include hiking/walking trails, fishing, environmental education and other recreation.

A future connection to Cary’s Jack Smith Park and greenway system could also be possible, officials said.