Park plan will resurrect architect's century-old vision
Park plan will resurrect architect's century-old vision
Plus: Who's ready for Cheerwine-flavored beer?; Developer envisions tropical beach resort in Huntersville; Black Political Caucus snubs CMS incumbents; Selwyn 5th-graders rumble with mascot
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Renovations underway at Elizabeth’s Independence Park aim to restore much of the early-1900s design created by a national giant in landscape architecture
New improvements like wider trails and permanent restrooms will be easily noticed when construction is complete at Independence Park. But what many won’t know is that the design changes will pay homage to the storied architect who designed the park at the start of the 1900s. (Photo by John Short)
by John Short
Drivers passing 7th Street and Hawthorne Lane in the Elizabeth neighborhood over the past year have likely noticed the orange construction cones and changing landscape as Independence Park is remodeled by the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department.
The $5.9M project has been underway for years and is scheduled to come to a close by the end of 2022, adding new playground equipment, wider walking trails and permanent restrooms for the park — new modern conveniences expected of a modern park.
But more subtly, the project also includes a return closer to the design of the original creator of the park, a nationally renowned landscape architect named John Nolen, whose personal stamp on Charlotte is difficult to ignore.
The renovation project aims to create a more cohesive park like the one Nolen designed, one that highlights the natural elements of the terrain, including a tree canopy and winding trails that approach the Little Sugar Creek Greenway toward the west end of the park.
Early goal of making Charlotte famous for parks: Independence Park was Charlotte’s first public park, completed in 1906 after a deliberate planning effort from the Charlotte Board of Alderman, at the insistence of Charlotte’s leading business voices like Edward Dilworth Latta and DA Tompkins. These leaders emphasized the desire to “make Charlotte famous for the beauty of its parks,” and saw an expansion of public space as another way to prove Charlotte’s national legitimacy as a growing city.
In October 1904, the city selected the name “Independence Park” (a possible subtle reference to the Meck Dec, or the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence), and Tompkins began the process to solicit proposals for the park from landscape architects.
Ultimately, the commission selected John Nolen’s proposal for the park design, and he temporarily moved to Charlotte to oversee the construction of the park in 1905. Only 36 at the time of his appointment, Nolen had recently graduated from Harvard’s Landscape Architecture Master’s program, where he studied under Frederick Olmsted Jr., the son of Frederick Law Olmsted, the renowned designer of New York’s Central Park and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. [changed 10/26/22 to correct spellings of architects’ names]
Nolen’s work during his studies was greatly inspired by the “Garden City” experiments of European cities in the 1890s, which were meticulously planned small communities of commercial, industrial and residential areas encircled with greenbelts to give the feeling of a cohesive city and rural life and landscapes.
Nolen’s design for Independence Park is very much in this vein and set out to make the natural beauty of the space more accessible, highlighting the “spirit of informality” inherent in the park.
Expanding influence: Before the park’s completion in 1906, Nolen made several trips to Charlotte to advise the park commission. During these trips, he impressed one commissioner in particular — real estate developer George Stephens.
Stephens had been working on a plan to develop a prestigious streetcar suburb southeast of the city, and he approached Nolen to work on the project. In 1911, Nolen was officially hired by Stephens to design the suburb, which Stephens had named Myers Park. The curved, tree-lined roads and landscaped medians that are now iconic characteristics of Myers Park are signature Nolen designs. There is no Booty Loop without John Nolen.
Over the years, Independence Park was modified with features that moved it away from Nolen’s original vision, but the soon-to-be-completed renovation returns some of those concepts, with a modern twist for accessibility for all of Charlotte’s residents.
Ultimately, Nolen would go on to have an illustrious career beyond the Queen City, designing over 400 civic projects across the country, including an expansion of the UNC campus in Chapel Hill, as well as city plans for Madison, Wis. and Sacramento, Calif.
So the next time you’re wandering through the completed Independence Park early next year or driving under the tree canopy of one of Myers Park’s curved boulevards, know that the curves and closeness are not a fluke: They’re all part of John Nolen’s plan for “unified suburban design.”
John Short is a freelance writer and co-host of The Charlotte Podcast who loves digging up Charlotte’s past and pondering its future. Say hey when you see him on the streetcar.
Today’s supporting sponsors are Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
… and T.R. Lawing Realty:
Cheerwine-flavored beer? NoDa Brewing is working on it.
People love beer, and people love Cheerwine — so why not combine the flavors?
Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing Co. appears to be working with the company that makes Cheerwine to produce a “Cheerwine Ale.” Cheerwine sent a survey to its fan club last week saying a collaboration is in the works and trying to gauge customers’ reactions.
The survey described the product as a “great tasting, refreshing ‘Cheerwine Ale,’ with the perfect level of unique cherry taste and aroma of Cheerwine,” and it asked hardcore Cheerwine fans to vote on one of these two label designs:
The collaboration has not been publicly announced. NoDa Brewing officials were unavailable to comment over the weekend.
There has been Cheerwine beer before. New Sarum Brewing in Cheerwine’s home town of Salisbury has brewed small batches of a Cheerwine lager, sour, stout and hazy IPA. NoDa Brewing is North Carolina’s 9th-largest brewery and is one of Mecklenburg County’s big three in beer production, behind Sycamore Brewing and Olde Mecklenburg Brewery.
Brewers have increasingly sought new flavors and collaborations as a strategy to increase sales. NoDa Brewing, for instance, has had beers approved by the N.C. ABC Commission with flavors of apricot, blueberry, coconut, orange, cafe mocha, chocolate cherry, cranberry, lime, peach, raspberry, orange, grapefruit, pumpkin, Dreamsicle, ginger, mango, spruce, tangerine, pineapple, lemon, shortbread, basil, margarita, mint, passionfruit, peanut butter, plum, pomegranate, strawberry-banana and watermelon. —TM
Related Ledger article:
“Sycamore surpasses OMB as Charlotte’s biggest brewery” (🔒, June 1)
Developer envisions ‘Crystal Lagoon’ resort in Huntersville
Imagine yourself with a tropical drink as you relax on a white-sand beach overlooking clear water … in Huntersville.
That’s a vision of one Cornelius developer, who says he has 270 acres of farmland under contract, with plans to build a mixed-use development with a Caribbean-style resort called Crystal Lagoon at its center.
Jake Palillo told Cornelius Today last week that he’s buying land off N.C. 73 (Sam Furr Road) at Westmoreland Road for the ambitious project. He said: “Disney is developing a Crystal Lagoon in Arizona, and we want Huntersville to be the first in North Carolina.”
The publication reported:
Crystal Lagoons technology can create lagoons of any size in an environmentally sustainable way, while recreating a Caribbean-style environment with clear waters, white sand, and water sports—all open for visitors through an entrance fee. Projects often feature hotels, multifamily residences, retail, restaurants and venues for weddings, conferences and concerts.
Palillo, who has developed retirement communities in northern Mecklenburg, says he expects to start rezoning for the project in the next couple months. —TM
Black Political Caucus endorses no incumbents in CMS race
Four members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education are running for re-election — and the influential Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg is endorsing none of them.
In endorsement cards being handed out at the polls, the group endorses opponents of district incumbents Rhonda Cheek, Thelma Byers-Bailey, Carol Sawyer and Sean Strain. Two other board members are not running for re-election, and the board’s three at-large slots are not on the ballot until next year.
Local politicians tend to believe that the Black Political Caucus’ endorsement is helpful — though it is probably more influential in some districts than others. The other major endorsement sought by politicians is that of The Charlotte Observer. The newspaper endorsed just one school board incumbent, Cheek, last week.
Endorsements could carry outsized weight in next month’s election, especially in lesser-known and nonpartisan races like the campaign for school board, because many voters are probably unfamiliar with the candidates.
In other races, the Black Political Caucus endorsed Democratic candidates. —TM
➡️ For in-depth information on this year’s school board races, check out the excellent series of articles on each district by WFAE’s Ann Doss Helms.
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
Thursday: Introduction to Estate Planning. 12-1 p.m. Virtual. Join the Library Foundation for a virtual lunchtime program to learn helpful tips and insights from Debra Foster, an esteemed local attorney who specializes in estate planning. Registration required. Free.
Nov. 16: Talent Jam Charlotte. 6-9 p.m. Heist Brewery and Barrel Arts. Part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, this unique high-energy, hyperlocal event connects local tech and creative talent with the startups and innovative companies that need them via alternating 60-second pitches followed by casual but impactful networking. $15-$50.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
Loves me some internet: 5th-graders on SouthPark youth football team rumble with Atlanta Falcons mascot Freddie Falcon
The SouthPark Falcons U11 youth football team took on a collection of sports mascots at halftime of Sunday’s Carolina Panthers game in the “Sir Purr Bowl” — and this tough hit by Atlanta Falcons mascot Freddie Falcon and subsequent shoving of Selwyn Elementary 5th-grader Braxton Snyder (running back, #22) made the rounds on the internet soon afterward.
Asked if the pushing after the play was staged, a father of one of the players told The Ledger: “Not to my knowledge. … He is the coach’s son and a hell of an athlete/competitor. He was pissed he didn’t score.”
A mom from the team put together more highlights from the game on Instagram. —TM
In brief:
UNC Charlotte coach learned of firing from Twitter: UNC Charlotte fired football coach Will Healy, whose team started 1-7 this year. Healy told The Observer’s Scott Fowler that he found out about his own firing on Twitter just before a 10 a.m. meeting Sunday with athletic director Mike Hill. (Observer, subscriber-only)
Questions over fossil-fuel lending: A group of 19 Republican state attorneys general are seeking information from Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other national banks related to their involvement in a United Nations banking alliance designed to encourage bank portfolios to have net-zero emissions by 2050. The officials say they worry that banks are “starving companies engaged in fossil fuel-related activities of credit on national and international markets.” (Winston-Salem Journal)
Democrat-on-Democrat criticism: Writing in alternative publication Queen City Nerve, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools board member Jennifer De La Jara calls county commissioner Pat Cotham “the most ineffective commissioner our county has” and says: “Pat Cotham is a Republican and it’s time Democrats admit it.” Cotham received about 23,000 more votes than De La Jara this spring, when they were both on the ballot in the Democratic primary for county commission. (Queen City Nerve)
Woman charged in bleach-throwing: Police charged a 30-year-old woman with assault on a school employee, in connection with an incident last week in which bleach was thrown in the face of a school bus driver on Central Avenue in east Charlotte. (WBTV)
Taking stock
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project