Shelia Lynch, Senior Community Relations Analyst –Community Engagement
A special thank you to all the community members who provided feedback and input during the planning process, graciously lending their time and expertise!
Prepared internally by City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
Project Manager: Lauryn Kabrich, Park Planner
Project Landscape Architect: Kimberly Siran, Capital Projects Manager
Executive Summary
The Forestville Road Park Master Plan will guide future development of the Forestville Road Park Property Located at 4909 Forestville Road, the property consists of approximately 25 undeveloped acres near the intersection of Forestville Road and Buffaloe Road, east of the Neuse River. In 2004, the Forestville Road Park Property was acquired by the City of Raleigh in anticipation of future development in the area, with the intention that the property would be used as a public park.
Now, the Forestville Road Park Property is located in one of the most rapidly transforming areas of the City, with dramatic changes to land use patterns underway, shifting the area from its historical agricultural and rural residential uses to more dense residential development uses. There is a strong community desire for preservation of natural areas and public spaces for respite.
Additionally, the Forestville Road Park Property contributes to the history of Raleigh and Wake County, as it represents a portion of what was once a 600-acre plantation. The plantation was owned by Kearney Upchurch, who purchased a large tract of land along the Neuse River in 1838. Upchurch increasingly invested in enslaved labor in the decades before the Civil War, with 1860 census records showing twenty people held in bondage.
Thus, the Forestville Road Park Property represents a unique and important opportunity to provide access to a preserved corner of the natural environment and to deepen public understanding of Raleigh’s history, while uplifting the past and ongoing resilience of the African American community.
To prepare for the park’s master plan, a Situation Assessment was conducted and was approved by the Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board on March 20, 2025. The Situation Assessment included historical research, an analysis of the planning context of the area, an inventory of existing site conditions and natural resources, and a demographic analysis of the local community. It also included the selection of a Community Advisory Group (CAG), who would collaborate with the project team to guide the design of the park and represent community interests.
To guide the development of the park, four design goals were established with the support of the CAG. These design goals expand on the vision statement for the park: Rooted in history and built for community, Forestville Road Park will be a place for exploration, nature, and play.
Vision Statement
Rooted in history and built for community, Forestville Road Park will be a place for exploration, nature, and play.
Forestville Road Park Design Goals
Honor History
Forestville Road Park will acknowledge and elevate the layered human histories of this land by honoring the lives and legacies of the Indigenous peoples who first inhabited the area, the African and African American individuals and families, many of whom where enslaved, who lived and labored here as part of a 600-acre plantation, and those who contributed to its 20th-century agrarian identity. The park will prioritize educational opportunities, storytelling, and inclusive interpretation creating space to reflect on the past and to share new stories for future generations.
Foster Community
Forestville Road Park will be a space where people of different backgrounds and experiences can come together. The park will serve as a hub for intergenerational gathering, volunteerism, and relationship building, with walkable connections to adjacent neighborhoods and a shared space that the community can shape and celebrate.
Conserve Nature
Forestville Road Park will protect, enhance, and celebrate the site’s natural features, with a special emphasis on preserving legacy trees, maintaining contiguous tree canopy, and highlighting the stream corridor. The park will support local biodiversity through the protection and cultivation of native species, creating a natural respite in the midst of a developing area and a lasting ecological legacy.
Inspire Play
Forestville Road Park will encourage play and exploration for all ages and abilities through thoughtfully designed play spaces and pathways that nurture creativity, curiosity, and cooperation and emphasize the natural surroundings.
Honor History
The master plan includes:
Foster Community Conserve Nature Inspire Play
• A looped trail system, with paved trails, natural surface trails, and amenity nodes
• An adventure play area with a whimsical, treehouse-type aesthetic, providing inclusive play options for various age groups
• A terraced arrival plaza adjacent to the play area, with a restroom building, picnic shelter, and seating
• A historic gathering area, featuring a heritage walk and interpretive art utilizing reclaimed materials from a historic log cabin.
• Integrated historic interpretation throughout the site, including educational signage related to both the cultural and natural history of the property
• A picnic grove, offering a serene respite within a stand of legacy pecan trees.
• A multi-sport court, providing a dedicated space for active recreation.
• A pollinator meadow featuring native species, with an internal trail and seating.
• Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), organically integrated to capture runoff and protect the onsite stream
• A parking area and dedicated site entrances for pedestrians and vehicles, to allow convenient and walkable access to the park.
For more information on the included elements and amenities, cost estimation, prioritization, and next steps, refer to the Final Master Plan section.
Glossary
The following represents acronyms utilized throughout the report. They have been compiled and defined here, for ease of reference.
Community Advisory Group (CAG): A CAG is a membership-specific committee that provides oversight of the project planning process and ensures that the decisions made include a broad representation of community and stakeholders impacted by the project. CAG members help disseminate and facilitate communication between the community and planning staff.
Design Resource Team (DRT): A cross-departmental group of City of Raleigh staff with knowledge and expertise in varying disciplines related to the project. Each representative of a DRT is responsible for communicating information between the project team and their respective department/division/etc.
Green Stormwater infrastructure (GSI): Stormwater management devices that preserve nature, soil, and waterways and/or mimic nature by managing, treating, and reducing stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces, like roads, sidewalks, roofs, and driveways.
Historic Resources and Museum Advisory Board (HRMAB): A City of Raleigh advisory board with the mission to promote, coordinate, and strengthen the advocacy and advancement of public programs within the Historic Resources and Museums Program and to further the cultural development of the City of Raleigh.
Historic Resources and Museums (HRM) Program: A program within the Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, which protects and promotes identified cultural museum and historical resource facilities, programs, and assets within the City of Raleigh.
Homeowners Association (HOA): An organization in a residential community that creates and enforces rules for the properties and residents within its jurisdiction. Often used to refer to the group of residents or homeowners in a defined area, that belong to the given HOA.
North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (NCSHPO): A division of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, NCSHPO is the official state agency for historic preservation.
Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB): The official citizen advisory board to the Raleigh City Council on issues related to parks, greenway, and recreation policy matters.
Raleigh Historic Development Commission (RHDC): The Raleigh City Council’s official historic preservation advisory body to identify, preserve, protect, and promote Raleigh’s historic resources.
Works Progress Administration (WPA): A federal agency, created as a key part of the Second New Deal, that employed jobseekers to carry out public works projects.
Introduction
Project Overview
The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department (Raleigh Parks) collaborated with the community to develop a master plan for the Forestville Road Park Property (4909 Forestville Road). The approximately 25-acre property is located east of the Neuse River, near the intersection of Forestville Road and Buffaloe Road. The Forestville Road Park Property was acquired by the City of Raleigh in 2004, with the intention that the property would be used as a public park.
The site is unique, with regard to both natural and cultural resources. The site includes distinctive microhabitats, including rock outcrops (visible exposures of bedrock) and upland seeps (areas of groundwater discharge, which support diverse habitats), and the site is bisected by a blue-line stream. Regarding cultural resources, the site represents a portion of what was once a 600-acre plantation, owned by Kearney Upchurch. The plantation utilized enslaved labor, with 1860 census records showing twenty people held in bondage. There is a log cabin on the property today that descendants of the Upchurch family suggest may be related to the site’s antebellum African American history; however, subsequent investigation has not been able to confirm this.
The property is surrounded by residential developments and land that is soon-to-be developed. South of the property is Solis Buffaloe (a multi-family apartment development, opened in 2025) and Ivy Ridge (a small, single-family neighborhood). The southeast corner of the property abuts an undeveloped property, which is actively undergoing permitting for development (to be a multi-family townhome development, Townes at Milburnie Ridge). To the west, the property is bounded by Forestville Road and a single-family home. Oak Hill Drive, a currently impassable dirt road, makes up the northern boundary of the property. A short portion of this road will need to be constructed to facilitate a driveway into Forestville Road Park.
There are a limited number of parks in the area, including Buffaloe Road Athletic Park (2.7 miles away), Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve (4.1 miles away), and River Bend Park (4.5 miles away). The lack of park amenities in the immediate area underscores the need for Forestville Road Park.
Today, the area is growing rapidly, with dramatic changes to land use patterns and significant population growth. The influx of residents, loss of tree canopy, and shift from agriculture demonstrates the important role of Forestville Road Park to preserve the natural environment, provide recreational amenities, and facilitate reflection on Raleigh’s history.
Forestville
Project Schedule
The master planning process for Forestville Road Park was a fifteen-month exercise, broadly divided into three stages: the Situation Assessment, Plan Development, and the Approval Process.
The Situation Assessment stage occurred from January to March 2025. It included site analysis, review of planning context, and collation of preliminary site history. It also included the selection of a community-based advisory committee (Community Advisory Group – CAG), based on the standards set forth in the Raleigh Public Participation Playbook (July 2020).
The Plan Development stage comprised the majority of the master planning process, extending from April 2025 through January 2026. This stage was an intentional, consensus-seeking process supported by robust community engagement, which both informed the design and increased public awareness of the historical and environmental significance of the site. During this stage, the project team held 3 public open houses, conducted 3 online surveys, and met with the CAG a total of 9 times. For detailed information, refer to the Plan Development Process chapter
The Approval Process was the final stage of the exercise, occurring from February to April 2026. The final master plan was reviewed by the Parks Committee, reviewed and approved by the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board, and adopted by City Council.
The timelines below summarize the project schedule.
Situation Assessment
CAG Recruitment Opens
January 17, 2025
HRMAB Presentation
January 22, 2025
Parks Committee Presentation
February 6, 2025
RHDC Presentation
February 12, 2025
CAG Recruitment Closes
February 21, 2025
Parks CommitteeCAG Selection
March 6, 2025
PRGAB Presentation
March 20, 2025
Plan Development
Phase 1
Initial Input + Design Goals
April - May 2025
Approval Process
Parks Committee Presentation
February 5, 2026
Phase 2 Design Alternatives Phase
June - July 2025
Parks Committee Action
March 5, 2026
Phase 3 Concept Plan Phase
August - November 2025
Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board Presentation
March 19, 2026
Phase 4
Draft Master Plan Phase
December 2025January 2026
City Council Presentation
April 21, 2026
Situation Assessment Summary
To begin the master planning process, a Situation Assessment was conducted. The primary purpose of the Situation Assessment was to analyze the local context around the project, to identify issues or opportunities related to the future park site, and to determine how to best engage with the local community for a collaborative planning process.
The Situation Assessment incorporated historical research on the property and collated relevant historical documents and studies related to the property, including a 2010 archeological report. It also included analysis of the planning context of the area, natural resources and existing conditions of the site, and a demographic analysis of the local community.
Additionally, the Situation Assessment included the selection of a Community Advisory Group (CAG), based on the standards set forth in the Raleigh Public Participation Playbook (July 2020). This membershipspecific committee of local residents would play an instrumental role in guiding the master planning process.
The Forestville Road Park Property Situation Assessment was approved by the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board at their March 20, 2025 meeting.
For the full text of the Situation Assessment, refer to Appendix A.
Community Advisory Group Overview
A key aspect of the Situation Assessment was the identification of key community members for the Community Advisory Group (CAG). A CAG is a membership-specific committee that provides oversight of the project planning process and ensures that the decisions made include a broad representation of community and stakeholders impacted by the project. CAG members help disseminate and facilitate communication between the community and planning staff.
Following a robust recruitment campaign, there were 36 applicants for the Forestville Road Park CAG. Applicants were evaluated by the Parks Committee, using a host of criteria including demographic analysis, interest in Forestville Road Park, proximity to the future park, and connection to local organizations, civic groups, or neighborhoods. The goal of the evaluation process was to select a diverse group of people that represented the surrounding neighborhoods and/or had relevant lived or professional experience.
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
The nominations for the CAG membership were approved by the Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board at their March 20, 2025 meeting, in conjunction with the Situation Assessment.
Notably, in addition to the representatives of the general community (who all lived in the immediate vicinity of the park site) and representatives from the Parks Board, there where three “specialty” representatives: one from the Raleigh Youth Council (Diya Patel), one from the HRMAB (Jenny Harper), and one descendant of the Upchurch family, who had grown up on and around the future park property (Roger Montague).
The CAG convened 9 times during the master planning process, including an introductory call, seven working meetings, and an optional site visit. Additionally, many CAG members attended the public open houses throughout the plan development stage, to hear from and speak with broader community members directly.
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
The CAG adopted a charter at the beginning of the process, which governed how the group would operate and outlined the consensus-seeking model that would dictate votes at key project milestones. In alignment with the charter, the CAG collaborated with the design team to develop design goals, a concept plan for the park, and priorities for phased development.
To view the CAG Charter, refer to Appendix B. To view brief biographies of the CAG members, refer to Appendix C.
During the Initial Input phase of the project, a guided site visit to the Forestville Road Park Property was completed with members from the CAG, DRT, and PRGAB. From left to right: Sarah Jackson (CAG), Linda Pearsall (PRGAB), Carter Roberson (DRT), Carrie Hasbrouck (PRGAB), Andrew Stephenson (CAG), Sharmaine Walker (CAG), Roger Montague (CAG), Brian Ellis (CAG), Collette Kinane (DRT), Lauryn Kabrich (DRT).
Design Resource Team Overview
The Design Resource Team (DRT) is a cross-departmental group of City of Raleigh staff with knowledge and expertise in varying disciplines related to the project. Each representative was responsible for communicating information between the project team and their respective department/division/etc., to ensure awareness of the project and synergy between Forestville Road Park and other relevant projects and initiatives.
The DRT met five times throughout the master planning process to guide design, review public input, and provide subject matter expertise. The DRT also helped inform community engagement strategy and CAG recruitment approaches. During the Design Alternatives phase, the DRT conducted a design charrette, to provide real-time feedback and sketch adjustments for the various design alternatives.
Included on the DRT where two history-focused staff: Douglas Porter, from Raleigh Parks’ Historic Resources and Museums Program and Collette Kinane, from the Planning and Development’s Historic Preservation team. These staff members facilitated connections with two key advisory boards: the Historical Resources and Museums Advisory Board (HRMAB) and the Raleigh Historic Development Commission (RHDC). These advisory boards were updated on project progress and had opportunities to provide input throughout the master planning process.
Approval Process
The approval process was the final stage of the project
At the final CAG meeting on January 21, 2026, the CAG conducted a consensus vote on the draft master plan report. The vote confirmed consensus with major reservations supporting the master plan, and with this approval, the design team presented the draft master plan report to Parks Committee on February 5, 2026, for review and discussion. The Parks Committee reconvened on March 5, 2026, to provide final edits and recommend the master plan to the full board.
Next, the master plan was reviewed by the Parks, Recreation and Greenways Advisory Board (PRGAB). At the March 19, 2026 PRGAB meeting, staff and CAG members presented the master plan. The board unanimously voted to recommend the master plan to Raleigh City Council for final approval. On April 21, 2026, the Raleigh City Council unanimously voted to adopt the Forestville Road Park Master Plan.
Project Background
Site History
The approximately 25-acre Forestville Road Park property was once part of an approximately 600-acre cotton plantation, owned by Kearney Upchurch (1808-1882) Upchurch’s possession of the land dates to 1836, when he purchased a large tract from John Perry along the Neuse River and extending east. Before his death, Kearney passed control of the property to his son, James W. Upchurch (1839-1913), who subsequently passed the land to his son, William Ivan Upchurch (1875-1964). The land was subdivided in 1966, following Ivan’s death two years prior. At this time, his daughter, Hallie Upchurch Montague (1921-1997) received the property now identified as 4909 Forestville Road. The property was sold to the Poole family in the 1980s The City of Raleigh acquired the property from the Pooles in 2004.
Cotton gin, formerly located on Upchurch property, ca. 1918. William Ivan Upchurch and wife, Hallie Sorrell Hutspeth Upchurch, stand at entrance, and their children pose on cotton bales in front. Photo Credit: Photograph provided by Upchurch descendent, Roger Montague.
The property is particularly significant in its connection to nineteenth century African American history in Raleigh (at that time Wake County). Kearney Upchurch was an aspiring planter who increasingly invested in enslaved labor in the decades before the Civil War. The 1840 census shows two enslaved individuals (one male and one female, both between ages of 10 and 24) and two free people of color (both male, between ages of 10 and 24) living on the Upchurch property. The plantation population climbed steadily over the next two decades. Census records show an increase to ten people held in bondage in 1850 and a further increase to twenty people held in bondage a decade later in 1860.
1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule. Highlighted section indicates individuals enslaved by Kearney Upchurch.
Although the census failed to identify enslaved people by name or relationship, the ages and genders recorded in the census “slave schedules” suggest multiple family units lived and labored together on the Upchurch plantation. The population rise from 1840 to 1860 likely resulted from natural increase, as well as purchase. Primary source documents, including two Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews with formerly enslaved people recorded in 1937, indicate that Kearney Upchurch participated in the market, specifically selling (and presumably buying)
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
individuals at auction. Georgianna Foster, who was born into slavery on the Upchurch property, recalled her mother saying that: “They gathered slaves together like they did horses and sold them on the block. Mother said they carried some to Rolesville in Wake County and sold them. They sold Henry Temples and Lucinda Upchurch from master’s plantation, but they carried them to Raleigh to sell them”. Similarly, William George Hinton, enslaved on a nearby farm, remembered seeing “a slave named Lucinda, sold to old man Askew, a speculator, by Kearney Upchurch. I saw them carry her off”.
The individuals enslaved on the Upchurch property were also part of a larger community network that spanned neighboring plantations. Georgianna Foster’s parents, for instance, were married but lived on adjacent (or nearby) plantations. While Georgianna and her mother Nancy “belonged” to Kearney Upchurch, her father, Axiom Wilder, labored for Bob Wilder. Once emancipation arrived in 1865, Axiom and Nancy swiftly united and moved their family to “Mr. Bob Perry’s plantation and stayed there many years ” According to Georgianna, her parents disliked their former owners she reported that “living at master’s was hard” but thought that Bob Perry was “a good man.” Perry’s reputation was likely known via the community grapevine during slavery, an awareness that impacted the family’s choice to relocate as they moved into freedom.
Upchurch descendants suggest that a cabin, currently located in the central section of the property, bears a potential link to the site’s antebellum African American history. While deconstructing a tenant house on the eastern side of the property in the late 1960s, Joe Montague, husband of Hallie Upchurch Montague, discovered what appeared to be an older cabin encased within the tenant house. Joe Montague reclaimed the timbers, moved them with a mule, and used them to construct a log cabin, which remains to this day on a separate section of the property. The family hypothesized that the old structure discovered by Joe Montague may have been a slave dwelling. This is partially based on the WPA interview with Georgianna Foster where she recalled
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
that “we lived in little log houses” on the plantation. Brett Sturm with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office (NCSHPO) visited the site with City staff in February 2023. He noted some logs that possibly dated to the antebellum era, but also a number of other planks of varying ages. In addition, he determined that the design did not suggest an exact replication of a former structure. Regardless of provenance, the building is a significant feature of the property and will be a key piece of the historical interpretation of the site.
Joe Montague, seated on porch of the reconstructed cabin, ca. 1970. The porch was added when the cabin was reconstructed; it was not part of the original structure. Photo credit: Photograph provided by Upchurch descendent, Roger Montague.
Following emancipation, several generations the Upchurch family continued to live on and farm the land James W. Upchurch, Kearney Upchurch’s son, built a farmhouse (consisting of a main house and separate kitchen) that stood on the northwest corner of the park site. The farmhouse was demolished in the mid-1960s, but there is a legacy pecan grove in this corner of the property, reflecting the location of the former homestead. James’ son, William Ivan Upchurch, and his children (including Hallie Upchurch Montague) also lived in the farmhouse. Ivan was the last Upchurch to farm the property. Over the years, the property included numerous other structures and amenities, including a tennis court, smoke house, stables, hog pen, tobacco pack house, grading room, and an ordering pit. The property also contained a tenant house, which was rented and occupied by several African American individuals and families between 1870-1930, according to census data. In the 1930s, Willie and Carrie Holden resided in the tenant house. Carrie Holden was a nanny to Hallie Upchurch Montague and an important figure in her life The final known residents of the tenant house were Fred and Irene Trice, who lived there during the 1950s. Remnants of an old roadbed exist along the southern portion of the site; Upchurch descendants refer to this trail as “Freddie’s Path”.
In 2025, Roger Montague, son of Hallie Upchurch Montague and CAG member, donated seven deeds related to the Upchurch property to the City of Raleigh’s Historic Resources and Museums (HRM) Program. The deeds, ranging from 1836 to 1966, were sent to a conservator for preservation and now reside in HRM’s collections Transcriptions of the historic documents are available on HRM’s online collections database. These deeds will help guide the development of historic interpretive signage throughout the site.
See Appendix L to view copies of these historic documents.
Planning Context
The Forestville Road Park Property consists of approximately 25 acres of undeveloped land east of the Neuse River in Raleigh, located within City Council District B.
The site was acquired by the City of Raleigh in 2004, in anticipation of future residential development in this area. Now, two decades later, surrounding land-use is rapidly transitioning from a semi-rural and suburban fabric to a more urbanized pattern of development including townhomes, apartments, and commercial mixed-use nodes. With such rapid change in this area of Raleigh, many citizens engaged in the master planning process saw Forestville Road Park as a critical opportunity to preserve and protect a small area of vital yet rapidly diminishing open space.
The project site is in a dynamic area close to the I-540 network, in a part of the city that is rapidly evolving in terms of transportation capacity and the City of Raleigh’s infrastructure and services footprint. Throughout the master planning process, citizens shared their growing concerns about traffic congestion, safety, network connectivity, and transportation corridor constraints
In response, the Forestville Road Park Master Plan is designed with these challenges and opportunities in mind:
• Access, Connectivity, and Safety: The park is intended to support a coherent pattern of growth, with entrances, internal circulation, and pedestrian crossings designed for a future with materially higher traffic volumes and more walk-in users from adjacent residential developments.
• Greenway Expansion: While improvements beyond the park site are outside the scope of this master plan, the proposed park design anticipates future expansion of Raleigh’s greenway network The stream that runs through Forestville Road Park will become the spine of a future connection to the Hodges Mill Creek greenway corridor
• Right-Sizing Design: If regional traffic constraints persist, a highly parking-dependent “destination” approach for this park would be ill-advised. A well-connected, neighborhood-serving, walkable park model will likely perform better in the near term and remain flexible over time.
• Edges and Buffers: Using landscape, grading, and frontage design, the master plan manages the adjacency between park users and neighboring properties, which range from individual single-family home sites to multifamily apartments and townhome developments. Where appropriate, walkable connections are provided to facilitate access from more densely populated areas, while adequate undisturbed buffers will protect the privacy of neighbors and opportunity for quiet enjoyment of the park itself.
Park System Context
This site is one of several undeveloped park properties east of the Neuse River, intended to expand park access as this area of the city continues to grow and develop in the future. The master planning process was designed to balance the needs and expectations of existing residents while preparing to meet the needs of future citizens who will call this area home.
As illustrated by the Park Vicinity Map below, there are no other public parks located within a mile of the Forestville Road Park Property. Thus, this property will serve as the primary neighborhood park destination for most surrounding residents and should be expected to provide a variety of core park experiences.
The nearest developed parks are Buffaloe Road Athletic Park (2.7 miles, by road network distance), Horseshoe Farm Nature Preserve (4.1 miles, by road network distance), and River Bend Park (4.5 miles, by road network distance). These parks provide access to a variety of destination, or specialized, park experiences that likely do not need to be replicated at Forestville Road Park. For example, competition athletic fields available at Buffaloe Road Athletic Park may be sufficient to meet the needs of the local community.
The nearby undeveloped park properties are Watkins Road (38 acres, 2.3 miles north), Hodges Mill Creek (49 acres, 4.3 miles east), and Alvis Farm (100 acres, 4.1 miles southwest). Future planning and development of these properties will provide an opportunity to supplement the offerings planned for Forestville Road Park, alleviating some of the pressure on this relatively small property to provide a wide variety of park experiences.
Based on this context within the broader Raleigh Parks System, the size of the site, and location of the Forestville Road Park Property, the park is most compatible with the development of core neighborhood-based park experiences. Destination facilities and specialized experiences are most likely a better fit for future development at larger park sites in the area, or they may already be provided at nearby parks, such as Buffaloe Road Athletic Park. The specific amenities planned for Forestville Road Park are thus informed by the site’s natural features and cultural history and respond foremost to needs expressed by the local community through engagement and collaborative design.
Site Analysis
Cultural Resources
The Forestville Road Park Property contains cultural resources that reflect its 19th- and 20th-century history. As discussed in the Site History section, the park property was once part of a larger plantation landscape and later supported agricultural and residential uses.
Four structures are located on the western portion of the site today: a log cabin, a workshop/barn, a playhouse, and a stable. The workshop/barn, playhouse, and stable/feed shed were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s and are not considered historically significant. These three structures are in various states of disrepair and are unsafe to enter. It is recommended that the workshop/barn, playhouse, and stable/feed shed are demolished.
Front of workshop/barn, with art over front door. Outside of frame, the overhang on the south side of the structure is partially collapsed. Middle: Playhouse, with trash scattered within and around the structure. Right: Stable, located near log cabin, with partial roof collapse.
As part of due diligence for future park development, an archaeological study of the property was completed in 2010 by Environmental Services, Inc. The study identified three areas of potential archaeological interest. No additional archaeological investigations have occurred since that time.
The full archaeological report is included in Appendix J
Left:
The three areas of archaeological interest included 31WA1773 (the James W. Upchurch homesite), 31WA1772 (old homesite, containing foundations of a house and outbuilding), and the Road Bed (also known as Freddie’s Path). The workshop/barn mentioned above is labeled “Red Barn” and the stable/feed shed is labeled as “Feed Shed”. The playhouse is not labeled.
In February 2025, the project team presented the Forestville Road Park project to the Research Committee of the Raleigh Historic Development Commission (RHDC), to explore the potential for local historic designation of the log cabin and/or the property as a whole. Based on the information available at that time, the Research Committee determined that there was insufficient documentation to proceed with a historic designation application. Historic designation could be reconsidered in the future, following park development and additional research.
In Fall 2025, a structural assessment of the log cabin was conducted to evaluate its condition and feasibility for preservation or reuse. Findings from this assessment informed the master plan’s approach to interpretation and reuse of the cabin materials.
The structural assessment is included in Appendix K
Natural Resources
The Forestville Road Park Property is currently an uninhabited and predominantly wooded site, with mixed pine/hardwood forests and regenerating old fields. Documented natural features include extensive tree canopy, many large legacy trees, an unnamed blue-line stream, associated riparian buffers, areas of steep slope, rock outcrops, and upland seeps that support diverse habitats.
For more detailed information regarding site ecology, vegetation, and species observed on the property, refer to the Situation Assessment in Appendix A. Note that the Situation Assessment also incorporates the Pre-Development Assessment Plan (June 2022) as an appendix, which includes substantial documentation regarding site ecology and observed species of flora and fauna.
Site inventory prepared at the start of the Plan Development stage, highlighting notable site features.
Left: Large pecan tree, estimated to be over a century old. Middle: Upland seep. Right: Steep slope with rock outcrops.
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
The site has known stormwater and erosion concerns, particularly along portions of the stream corridor and the southern edge of the property. During site visits and throughout the master planning process, areas of active erosion were observed, attributable in part to runoff from upstream and adjacent developments. These conditions have contributed to undercutting of the streambank and sediment transport within the stream corridor.
Stream bank erosion observations. Left: May 2025. Right: December 2025.
Stormwater management and erosion mitigation were key considerations during development of the master plan. The plan emphasizes strategies that minimize disturbance to existing vegetation, limit new impervious surface, and integrate green stormwater infrastructure to slow, capture, and treat runoff before it reaches the stream. Specific stormwater solutions will be further evaluated and refined during schematic design and permitting. In addition to the green stormwater infrastructure measures proposed in the master plan, the stream onsite may be considered for future restoration, if degradation continues.
In addition to the onsite improvements for stormwater management recommended in the master plan, long-term stewardship of the park property will also require careful and detailed review of potential stormwater impacts that could result from the development of adjacent sites in the future. It will be incumbent on City staff working in both Raleigh Parks and Raleigh Stormwater to diligently review proposed stormwater control measures on adjacent sites and ensure that future designs incorporate adequate stormwater management for the mitigation of erosion, sedimentation, and water quality impacts to the park property At a baseline, any future development adjacent to the park property will be required to meet the minimum standards for stormwater management as established in Raleigh’s Unified Development Ordinance 1 and Stormwater Design Manual 2 in effect at the time of development.
1 City of Raleigh, Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), Chapter 9 “Natural Resource Protection,” Article 9.2 “Stormwater Management” et seq. and Article 9.4 “Erosion & Sedimentation Control” et seq.
Beyond applying and enforcing compliance with these legal standards, staff from Raleigh Parks and Raleigh Stormwater will work proactively with developers of adjacent properties to explore additional opportunities to mitigate potential site impacts due to stormwater runoff, including alternative compliance measures (e.g., considering direct impacts to the park property vs. accepting off-site credits for water quality impacts), public-private partnerships, and voluntary design alterations to limit direct or indirect impacts to the park’s landscape and natural resources.
Sedimentation observations on the park property. Left: June 2025. Right: December 2025.
Development Restrictions
There are no known deed restrictions associated with the Forestville Road Park Property. However, future development of the site will be subject to regulatory requirements and physical constraints, including:
• Environmentally sensitive features, including legacy trees
• Neuse River riparian buffers
• Intermittent and ephemeral tributaries to the stream
• Steep slopes (>10%)
• Existing and proposed right-of-way along Oak Hill Drive and Forestville Road
• Required sewer easements
• Existing power line and utility easements
Access to the site is currently limited to a single point from Forestville Road via Oak Hill Drive. There is no formal parking or internal circulation on the site. Oak Hill Drive is currently an unmaintained dirt road and is impassable due to a failed culvert. Per the Raleigh Street Plan, the proposed street type for Oak Hill Drive is a Neighborhood Street; however, there is not currently identified funding or a timeline for the build out of Oak Hill Drive between Forestville Road and Old Milburnie Road.
These regulatory requirements and site constraints were treated as baseline conditions throughout the planning process and informed the overall layout, access strategy, and development intensity proposed in the master plan.
Failed culvert, located where the unnamed stream crosses under Oak Hill Drive along the northern property line.
Plan Development Process
Plan development for Forestville Road Park occurred between April 2025 to January 2026. There were four phases: Initial Input + Design Goals, Design Alternatives, Draft Concept Plan + Priorities, and Draft Master Plan. Each phase followed a similar sequence, intentionally designed to maximize the quality and depth of community engagement and ensure that all feedback received had a meaningful impact on the development of the park design.
Throughout the plan development process, Raleigh Parks made information available to the public via a project webpage on the City’s website (raleighnc.gov) and a dedicated project engagement portal hosted on PublicInput. The engagement portal included real time updates of project status, included all project documents, posted survey results and engagement information, and featured information about the CAG and its function. A dedicated project email address was created to allow community members to send input or ask questions at any time during the planning process. There was also an option to sign up for a mailing list to receive regular project update emails.
Each community engagement touchpoint was promoted through a variety of methods, including print and digital collateral. Yard signs announcing public meetings and surveys were installed at key intersections and locations in the vicinity of the site. Raleigh Parks’ Community Connector staff distributed flyers to local businesses, churches, parks, and other relevant community locations. Digitally, public meetings and surveys were promoted via Raleigh Parks’ social media, weekly newsletters, and dedicated project update email lists. In addition, CAG members were charged with promoting engagement opportunities to their networks, via social media posts, HOA distribution, and word of mouth, which was hugely impactful for driving participation.
All public meetings were held at Marsh Creek Community Center, which was a convenient 10minute drive from the park site. All meetings were structured as open houses, which allowed community members to drop in at their convenience during the event. Light snacks and an art-making activity for all ages were available at each meeting, with accommodations and translation services available upon request.
All surveys were available online and were designed to be brief and straightforward, to maximize convenience and accessibility for community members. The online surveys generally mirrored the questions asked in the public meetings, to ensure consistent information was collected and to provide options for how community members wanted to provide input.
Prior to the start of Phase 1, the project team held two kickoff meetings – one with the DRT, to introduce staff to the project and planning process, and one virtual call with the CAG, to review the CAG charter and expectations for CAG participation.
Phase 1: Initial Input + Design Goals
The first phase of the plan development process was focused on creating a vision for the future park, determining design considerations, and learning about community needs and desires.
CAG Meeting 1
April 23, 2025
Online Survey 1
April 28 - May 18, 2025
CAG Meeting 1
Public Open House 1
May 5, 2025
CAG Meeting 2
May 20, 2025
DRT Meeting 2
May 29, 2025
Site Visit June 3, 2025
The first CAG meeting was held in-person at Marsh Creek Community Center, and it focused on introductions – both to the project and to the fellow CAG members. The meeting began with an icebreaker activity, to establish common ground and build comradery between the CAG members.
The design team then presented “Park Planning 101”, to educate the group on the typical park planning process. Next, staff shared an overview of the site and the project. CAG member Roger Montague, a descendant of the
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
Upchurch family who grew up on and around the park property, also shared a brief presentation with information and historical photos and documentation about the evolution of the property from the 19th and 20th centuries.
The final portion of the meeting consisted of a brainstorming activity and discussion about the design goals for the park. Clear themes emerged about the importance of nature (taking advantage of the trees, stream, and other features already onsite), play (with an emphasis on nature-based play, instead of traditional recreation spaces), community (opportunities for gathering and meeting with neighbors), and historic interpretation (recognizing, but not celebrating, past history and creating space for future history).
CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D.
Online Survey 1
An online survey was created to collect general public feedback on their current park usage, visions for the future park, preferred amenities, and exploration of history. The survey was open for three weeks and was launched one week ahead of the public meeting, to increase awareness and interest in attending the public meeting.
How would you like to see the history of the site acknowledged or explored?
Full survey results can be found in Appendix G
Public Open House 1
The public meeting provided an opportunity for community members to meet the project team, learn about the project and the park property, and provide initial ideas about the park. In addition to exhibits and informational boards, attendees were also prompted to “vote” with stickers and to add feedback to boards with sticky notes.
What types of amenities would you and your household members be most likely to use at Forestville Road Park? 17+ Attendees May 5, 2025 5-7 pm
Marsh Creek Community Center
CAG Meeting 2
The second CAG meeting was held virtually, via Microsoft Teams, and it centered around processing the feedback received from the first round of community engagement. The meeting began with a walkthrough of the new CAG collaboration platform (a project-specific Google Drive) and then proceeded to a debrief of what CAG members have been learning from their neighbors about desires for the park. Next, the project team recapped the results of the public meeting and online survey.
The final half of the meeting was spent discussing and editing the draft design goals, ensuring alignment with public feedback. A consensus vote was conducted digitally following this meeting, for CAG members to indicate their support of the design goals. Consensus was achieved, adopting the design goals below.
DRT Meeting 2
Following the completion of the first round of public engagement, the DRT convened to review the design goals established for the park and provide input on translating the community’s vision into design alternatives. There was also discussion with transportation department staff about future buildout of the road network in the area and allowable entry points into the park site.
Site Visit
To close out the Initial Input Phase, the project team organized a guided site visit, led by the project manager and Raleigh Parks’ Land Stewardship Program Manager Participation was optional, but the site visit was well attended, with 5 CAG members, 2 PRGAB members, and 6 DRT members joining The group walked the western half of the site, exploring the legacy trees, log cabin, stream corridor, and rock outcrops, while discussing possible layouts for the site and design considerations. During this site visit, ongoing erosion issues resulting from upstream stormwater management were noted and discussed.
Phase 2: Design Alternatives
The second phase of the plan development process was focused on creating three high-level design options for the park, based on the programming preferences and input received during the Initial Input Phase.
DRT Meeting 3
June 17, 2025
CAG Meeting 3
June 24, 2025
DRT Meeting 3
Public Open House 2
July 10, 2025
CAG Meeting 4
August 6, 2025
Online Survey 2
July 10-24, 2025
To kick off the Design Alternatives phase, the DRT came together for a design charrette to provide real-time feedback and sketch adjustments on three preliminary design alternatives. The subject matter expertise provided was valuable for the design team to verify the viability of the designs, allowing minor adjustments to be made prior to the CAG meeting.
CAG Meeting 3
The third CAG meeting was held in person at Marsh Creek Community Center, to help maximize collaboration. After debriefing on the June 3rd site visit, two Raleigh Stormwater staff provided a presentation on stormwater management, current regulations, and mitigation options, to help answer questions and brainstorm solutions related to the ongoing erosion and stormwater management concerns impacting the park property.
The CAG members then participated in an interactive review of the three design alternatives, marking up the drawings and discussing positives and negatives of each design with the group. The design team utilized this feedback to make edits to the design alternatives ahead of the public engagement.
CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D
Three Design Alternatives were presented to the public during this phase, representing different development intensities and combinations of popular park elements.
Concept A
Prioritized the design goal of "Conserve Nature", representing the least proposed development of built elements that would require removing or altering natural features, such as trees or wildlife habitat. The concept included paved trails, extensive unpaved trails, a picnic shelter, and a nature play area.
Concept B
Prioritized the design goal of "Honor History", emphasizing park elements associated with the site's social history. This concept included a picnic area in the old-growth pecan grove, a memorial garden and pollinator meadow, maintaining the existing historic cabin and adding interpretive signage, paved and unpaved trails, a picnic shelter, a traditional playground, and two adjacent sports court areas.
Concept C
Prioritized the design goal of "Foster Community", representing the most proposed development of new park elements, encouraging recreation and social gathering. This concept included an unstaffed neighborhood center, a community garden/food forest, the relocation of the existing historic cabin to the old-growth pecan grove, a traditional playground, an adventure play area, paved and unpaved trails, an open lawn space, large sport court area, and increased parking. This was the only concept that included substantial development on the east side of the stream.
Online Survey 2
An online survey was created to gauge preferred development intensity and site elements. The survey featured questions about highest and lowest priority park elements, with follow up questions about the design, location, and use of high-priority elements. Participants also had the chance to select the design alternative they liked most, with open-ended feedback opportunities. The survey was open for two weeks.
Do you prefer to use paved or unpaved trails?
Full survey results can be found in Appendix G
Public Open House 2
At the second public meeting, community members were able to preview each design alternative and have conversations with the project team. Attendees participated in a marble activity to “vote” for their preferred alternative, and were promoted to use stickers and sticky notes to rank priority elements, note preferred locations for site elements, and choose the style of play area the park should include.
Full open house results can be found in Appendix H
What type of non-wooded area would you prefer?
Attendees
July 10, 2025
6-8 pm
Marsh Creek Community Center
Pollinator Meadow Open Lawn Memorial Garden
CAG Meeting 4
The subsequent CAG meeting was held virtually, via Microsoft Teams, and the agenda consisted of reviewing the public engagement results and discussing design direction for a consolidated single concept plan for the park.
There was concurrence that the overall development intensity should be relatively light, limiting development on the east side of the stream and concentrating amenities on the west side of the stream. Trails remained a key element of the park, focusing on a mixture of trail types, contiguous loops, and nodes. There should be adventure play with natural materials, a pollinator meadow, and no neighborhood center. Uncertainty remained about the sport court (size, type, location), but the CAG was generally comfortable with staff’s suggestion of proceeding with the inclusion of one multi-sport court, co-located with the playground, with the type of sport uses to be determined at the time of park development.
Following the CAG meeting, a midpoint experience survey was sent out to all CAG members, to collect data on the CAG experience and process, as part of Raleigh Parks’ continuous improvement endeavors.
Experience survey results are available in Appendix F.
CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D.
Phase 3: Draft Concept Plan & Priorities Phase
The third phase of the plan development process was focused on incorporating the feedback and preferences expressed in the Design Alternatives Phase, consolidating the design into one concept plan for the future park.
DRT
Meeting 4
August 25, 2025
CAG
Meeting 5
Sept. 9, 2025
Parks Committee
Sept. 4, 2025
DRT Meeting 4
Prelim Regulatory Review
Sept. 15, 2025
Public Open House 3
Sept. 22, 2025
Online Survey 3
Sept. 22Oct. 6, 2025
HRMAB
Sept. 24, 2025
CAG
Meeting 6
Dec. 2, 2025
For the fourth DRT meeting, the project team shared a summary of the community engagement results from the previous phase and the subsequent design direction decisions. DRT members then previewed the draft concept plan and offered feedback. Comments were minimal, consisting of confirming multi-sport court sizing, including natural and cultural features in the interpretation along the trails, and discussing the integration of a covered picnic shelter.
Parks Committee
The project team attended the September 2025 Parks Committee meeting to provide a preview of the draft concept plan. Feedback was generally positive and did not result in any edits to the draft concept plan.
Note: The Parks Committee functions as a subcommittee of the PRGAB, tasked with the study of issues related to park facilities, features, developments, and modifications.
CAG Meeting 5
The fifth CAG meeting was held in-person at Marsh Creek Community Center. The meeting began with project updates about a potential property acquisition of a parcel adjacent to the park site and the structural assessment of the log cabin. Next, the CAG previewed the draft concept design and completed a charrette exercise to make tweaks to the design. Generally, the CAG was supportive of the concept plan, with only minor changes to the design needed Edits included additional nodes along the trails, seating around the adventure play area, and adjustments to the historic gathering area location.
During this meeting, the relocation of the log cabin was further discussed, with options for maintaining the structure and reuse and interpretation as public art discussed. Opinions were divided, with acknowledgement that the final results of the structural assessment would help inform the decision.
CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D
Preliminary Regulatory Review
During the Draft Concept Plan Phase, the design team completed a City of Raleigh Sketch Plan Review, which is a voluntary service in which applicants meet with a multi-departmental team of reviewers to discuss site plan design. During the review, applicants receive high-level regulatory-based guidance intended to reduce future review cycles, expedite project timelines, and open lines of communication with staff. Raleigh Parks often completes Sketch Plan Reviews with park concept plans, to ensure that there are no major issues with the proposed design. There were no significant concerns raised during the review; the project team noted regulatory requirements and necessary easement dedications to be incorporated when this project moves into advanced design and permitting.
The draft concept plan below was presented to the public, reflecting a combined concept that integrated all feedback received to this point in the process.
Public Open House 3
At the final public meeting, community members reviewed the concept plan and discussed their questions and feedback with project team members. A sticker “voting” exercise was conducted to gauge support of the proposed design and attendees expressed their preferences regarding historic interpretation options for the cabin.
Full open house results can be found in Appendix H
Online Survey 3
6+
Attendees
Sept. 22, 2025
5:30-7:30 pm
Marsh Creek Community Center
The final survey was the most straightforward, designed to gauge support for the final concept plan for the park. The survey also included opportunities for participants to share ideas for future names of the park and any general feedback. Responses indicated overwhelming support for the proposed design.
Do you suport the proposed design of Forestville Road Park? Strongly Unsupportive Supportive Strongly Supportive
Participants
Full survey results can be found in Appendix G
Historical Resources and Museum Advisory Board
The project team attended the September 2025 meeting of the HRMAB to provide a preview of the draft concept plan. Given the historic nature of the park property, the design team wanted to ensure the HRMAB had a chance to provide any feedback on the concept design and historic interpretation options for the cabin. Feedback was minimal, with the majority of members supportive of the design and project. Members advocated for the importance of telling complicated history via preserved physical assets, but they also acknowledged that the findings of the structural assessment would influence the fate of the cabin. Members also shared an example of artistic reinterpretation of a historic monument as a potential precedent.
Note: The HRMAB’s mission is to promote, coordinate, and strengthen the advocacy and advancement of public programs within the Historical Resources and Museum Program and to further the cultural development of the City of Raleigh
CAG Meeting 6
The sixth CAG meeting was held virtually, via Microsoft Teams, and covered several topics. The CAG reviewed the results of the Draft Concept Plan Phase’s community engagement, received updates on the cabin structural assessment and land acquisition, and reviewed the final concept plan. The most notable change from the draft concept plan was that the cabin was proposed to be relocated and reinterpreted as a public art piece, using reclaimed materials from the cabin. The CAG was generally supportive of this decision, but they urged careful selection of the public artist and emphasized that the call for art should focus on how the cabin served as a home. Several CAG members expressed interest in participating in the public artist selection process. A consensus vote was conducted digitally following this meeting, with the CAG achieving consensus, in support of the concept plan.
Finally, the CAG discussed priorities for the possibility of phased development of the project and options for how development agreement funding could be utilized. A consensus vote was conducted digitally following this meeting, for CAG members to indicate their support of the priority tiers for phased development. Consensus was reached, with the prioritized tiers of elements below:
1
Tier 2
See the Final Master Plan section for more information about prioritization. CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D. Consensus vote results are available in Appendix E.
Phase 4: Draft Master Plan
The final phase of the plan development process was focused on creating a report showcasing the concept plan for the future park. The Draft Master Plan Phase involved fewer engagement touchpoints than the previous three phases, as it focused primarily on synthesizing all of the research, community input, and design work into a consolidated report document.
CAG Meeting 7
January 21, 2026
DRT Review
January 14-21, 2026
DRT Review
Instead of a single meeting, the DRT’s final convocation was an asynchronous review of the draft master plan report. The DRT members conducted an in-depth review of the document, providing edits that were incorporated into the final version of the report.
CAG Meeting 7
Ahead of the final CAG meeting, CAG members had an opportunity to review the draft master plan report. During the meeting, notes, edits, and suggestions were collected by the design team, to integrate into the final version of the report. The meeting also served as a celebration of the plan development process, with a catered dinner and certificates and gifts provided to each CAG member.
Following the CAG meeting, a consensus vote was conducted digitally, for CAG members to indicate their support of the final master plan report. Consensus with major reservations was reached, authorizing the report to advance to PRGAB and City Council. Consensus vote results are available in Appendix E
CAG meeting minutes and presentations can be found in Appendix D
Final Master Plan
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
The master plan for Forestville Road Park will guide future development of this park property, in service of the community vision established throughout the planning process
Forestville Road Park Design Goals
Rooted in history and built for community, Forestville Road Park will be a place for exploration, nature, and play.
Honor History
Forestville Road Park will acknowledge and elevate the layered human histories of this land by honoring the lives and legacies of the Indigenous peoples who first inhabited the area, the African and African American individuals and families, many of whom where enslaved, who lived and labored here as part of a 600-acre plantation, and those who contributed to its 20th-century agrarian identity. The park will prioritize educational opportunities, storytelling, and inclusive interpretation creating space to reflect on the past and to share new stories for future generations.
Foster Community
Forestville Road Park will be a space where people of different backgrounds and experiences can come together. The park will serve as a hub for intergenerational gathering, volunteerism, and relationship building, with walkable connections to adjacent neighborhoods and a shared space that the community can shape and celebrate.
Conserve Nature
Forestville Road Park will protect, enhance, and celebrate the site’s natural features, with a special emphasis on preserving legacy trees, maintaining contiguous tree canopy, and highlighting the stream corridor. The park will support local biodiversity through the protection and cultivation of native species, creating a natural respite in the midst of a developing area and a lasting ecological legacy.
Inspire Play
Forestville Road Park will encourage play and exploration for all ages and abilities through thoughtfully designed play spaces and pathways that nurture creativity, curiosity, and cooperation and emphasize the natural surroundings.
Elements & Amenities
Trails
Forestville Road Park will feature both paved and natural surface trails, providing multiple experiences throughout the site and along the stream. The trails are designed as a series of concurrent loops, with approximately 0.7 miles of paved trail and 0.5 miles of natural surface trail. There will be multiple amenity nodes along the trail, with specific uses to be determined during schematic design; amenities could include benches, picnic tables, public art, or interactive elements (instruments, exercise equipment, small play features, etc.). Direct pedestrian connections will be provided to adjacent multi-family developments. There will also be a trail spur connecting the streamside trail to the northern property line, for future greenway connection opportunities
Adventure Playground
The play area will be a key attribute of the park site, geared towards adventure play. Adventure play features more challenging and diverse play experiences, focused on risk-taking and problem-solving, with dynamic activities like ziplines, rope bridges, and obstacle courses. The playground will include two zones, including one area with more active play for older or more adventurous users and one area with smaller, less active play for younger or less adventurous users. The Adventure Playground will have a whimsical, treehouse-type aesthetic with natural materials that blend into the environment and are interwoven into the existing tree canopy. Inclusive and accessible features will be prioritized, such as communication boards, visual safety cues, smooth safety surfacing, and shaded seating Additional community engagement will be conducted during schematic design to select specific play elements.
Terraced Arrival Plaza
The Arrival Plaza will serve as a central hub of the site, including the restroom building, bike racks, seating, and ornamental plantings. The plaza will include large terraces, built into the grade of the land and creating spaces for seating and gathering, overlooking the playground and forest.
Restroom Building and Picnic Shelter
Located at the Arrival Plaza, the restroom building will be situated within easy access to the play area, multi-sport court, food truck spots, and parking area. The restroom building will include an overhang to function as a picnic shelter with picnic tables, with clear sight lines to the play area. Amenities like water fountains will also be situated nearby. Sustainability features, such as rooftop solar panels, should be considered in the design of the building.
Historic Gathering Area
The Historic Gathering Area will be a manicured space with ornamental plantings and seating, accessible by a short path from the parking area. This will serve as a serene space to gather and reflect on the important and layered history of the site. The path to the gathering area, or Heritage Walk, will be lined with native plantings and educational signage.
Cabin Interpretive Art
The Cabin Interpretive art will serve as the centerpiece of the Historic Gathering Area and will function as an anchor for the historic interpretation and educational signage throughout the park. The final decision of what the Cabin Interpretive Art will entail will be a separate public art process, involving public engagement, but the art piece could utilize reclaimed/salvaged materials from the cabin. One option is for the art to be a larger sculptural piece to showcase the agrarian history of the site and pay homage to the resilience of the enslaved people who labored on the Upchurch plantation.
Educational Signage
Signage will be incorporated throughout the park site, reflecting both the cultural and natural history of the site. Signage design and content will be determined through a combination of public engagement, professional expertise, and design and fabrication consultation. Signage may include QR codes to direct patrons to supplemental information, such as historic records, photographs, and oral histories.
Picnic Grove
The stand of legacy pecan trees will be preserved to function as a picnic grove and area of respite, containing simple site furnishings like benches and tables. Educational signage will be located within the grove, celebrating the trees and noting the location of the previous farmhouse and homestead structures.
Multi-Sport Court
The multi-sport court will be located near the parking lot, Arrival Plaza, and play area. The court will be designed to be multi-use, allowing for multiple sports and methods of recreation. It will include supporting amenities, such as benches and a water bottle filling station.
The uses of the multi-sport court are deliberately not specified in this master plan. During the Schematic Design Process, additional community engagement shall be conducted to determine the preferred uses of the court, coverage preferences, and options for potential lighting after daylight hours. Refer to the Schematic Design Process section for more information on the inclusive and robust community engagement process to occur during schematic design of the park.
Pollinator Meadow
A meadow habitat will be established with native, pollinator species in the area of the site with no large existing trees. A natural surface trail will snake through the meadow to allow for an immersive experience. An amenity node will be located within the meadow, off of the natural surface trail, with simple features like benches and picnic tables.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Stormwater management devices will be organically integrated into the site to capture runoff, with a focus on sustainability and green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). A series of step pools, or a similar device, will be implemented along the southern property line leading to the stream, to mitigate known erosion issues due to adjacent property development.
Resilient Landscaping
Throughout the developed areas of the site, including the Historic Gathering Area and Heritage Walk, Arrival Plaza, and parking lot, native and regionally appropriate plants will be incorporated, with a focus on species that are valuable to both humans and wildlife.
Parking and Vehicle Access
A dedicated parking lot with approximately 40 spaces will be located perpendicular to the frontage of Forestville Road The parking lot will include electric vehicle charging stations. Due to the median dividing Forestville Road, the entrance to the parking lot will necessarily be a right turn in/right turn out. Thus, a segment of Oak Hill Drive will also be developed, connecting Forestville Road to a short driveway wrapping the Picnic Grove. This entry drive is designed in a sweeping arch, to slow traffic for the safety of pedestrians and park users while also providing views of park activities. The Oak Hill Drive entrance will serve as the main entrance to the park.
Along the entry drive, there will also be two dedicated food truck parking spots, to allow for convenient activation of the park. To support sustainability within the park, alternative energy sources should be explored to support the electric vehicle charging stations and food truck parking, such as modular solar panels.
Forestville
Cost Estimation
A preliminary cost estimate for Forestville Road Park was completed by a professional cost estimation consultant. The estimated cost for the full buildout of the master plan is $11,580,000, based on 2027 construction costs The table below shows a summary of the total project cost, which includes professional services (engineers, designers, and consultants), construction (earthwork, utilities, amenities, furnishings and site improvements), and soft cost and contingencies.
It should be noted that estimated costs for park development can vary due to many factors, such as material and labor availability, constructability, subsurface conditions, permitting requirements, and weather delays. The total project cost will likely increase if construction occurs later than 2027. An escalation factor of 4% per year can be applied to estimate the total project cost in a given year.
More detailed cost estimates will be developed during the future Schematic Design process.
Prioritization
Because a budget has not yet been identified for construction of Forestville Road Park, the project team elected to conduct a prioritization exercise with the CAG, to provide flexibility in the buildout and/or phasing of the park. The elements of the master plan were placed into two tiers: Tier 1 (higher priority) and Tier 2 (lower priority). This tiered prioritization approach provides flexibility for construction, to ensure that the project does not exceed available budget.
Tier 1
Paved Trails
Adventure Playground
Cabin
Interpretive Art
GSI Features
Restroom Building + Picnic Shelter
Tier 2
Natural Surface Trails
Multi-Sport Court
Pollinator Meadow
Picnic Grove
Essential site amenities (including parking, driveways, utility work, site preparation, etc.) were intentionally not included in the tiered prioritization exercise, as they will be incorporated regardless of the ultimate scope of work or phasing of the park.
Next Steps
The master plan was unanimously adopted by Raleigh City Council on April 21, 2026. The typical next steps in the park development process include: schematic design, permitting, bidding, and construction.
At the time of publishing, there is no identified budget or timeline available for construction of this project. However, there is an active development agreement between the City of Raleigh, Capital Properties of Raleigh, LLC, and Pippin Properties, LLC, related to the Forestville Road Park Property. This development agreement, recorded on August 9, 2023, allocates a donation of $600,000 to facilitate the planning, design, and/or development of the park.
This $600,000 budget will be utilized to fund site stabilization and security and to advance schematic design, such that the project can move expeditiously into permitting, bidding, and construction when a project budget is identified. Staff will work with relevant boards and City Council to identify funding sources for master plan implementation.
Schematic Design Process
Schematic Design will focus on translating the concept plan into detailed construction drawings, responsive to site conditions and continued community feedback. More detailed site investigations, such as subsurface geotechnical work and additional topographic surveys, will occur at this time.
Additional community engagement will take place during the schematic design phase, to solicit input on design refinements Two key items that the community engagement will inform are the adventure play area and the multisport court. Community members will help select the adventure play equipment and layout A dedicated focus of
Forestville Road Park Master Plan
community engagement will be the selection of which sports the multi-sport court should include. This feedback will directly inform the final design of the multi-sport court area (including lining, equipment, coverage, and any other considerations).
To ensure an inclusive and accessible engagement process, that is representative of the full diversity of the local community, wherein all community members have a chance to meaningfully participate, a variety of methods will be utilized, specifically tailored to meet the needs of all community members. The project team will re-engage with the CAG, for design input and to promote and expand engagement opportunities. In addition to typical promotional strategies of press releases, social media posts, Raleigh Parks newsletters, flyers at local businesses and organizations, and yard signs in the area surrounding the park, direct mailers will also be used. These direct mailers –promoting online surveys and in-person meetings – will be distributed to all residents living within one mile of the Forestville Road Park Property, with special consideration to ensure that all residents living in nearby apartments receive direct notification. All promotional materials will include contact information for the project team, to allow community members the opportunity to directly provide feedback through the method of their choosing, including by phone, email, mail, or in-person visits.
The schematic design for Forestville Road Park will be prepared and submitted to PRGAB and Raleigh City Council for review and approval. Following approval, the project will proceed into permitting and construction, pending project budget identification.
Greenway Comprehensive Plan Amendment
Following Master Plan adoption, Raleigh Parks staff will pursue a Comprehensive Plan amendment to add a greenway corridor designation to the Greenway Trail Map (PR-3) The amendment will designate a segment of stream (from Forestville Road Park Property to the Neuse River Tributary to the north) as a greenway corridor.
This new greenway corridor will connect Forestville Road Park to the “Neuse River Harris Creek – Tributary A” corridor, which includes a proposed greenway trail in the Capital Area Greenway Master Plan. The new corridor would be approximately 0.4 miles long and would cross through three parcels. This designation would allow for dedication of greenway easement upon redevelopment of any of the properties and would facilitate future greenway trail connection from Forestville Road Park to the rest of Raleigh’s greenway trail network.
