One of Hickory's most popular parks will be closed for about a month while a sewer line is being replaced.
Glenn C. Hilton Jr. Memorial Park will be closed, beginning today, as part of the Cripple Creek Outfall Replacement Project. The project was started in late June, and is replacing about 2.7 miles of a 100-year-old sewer line comprised of clay pipes near Cripple Creek. The pipes carry raw sewage from downtown, northwest and portions of northeast Hickory to the city's wastewater treatment facility.
PVC pipes are replacing the old pipes because tree roots have cracked the older ones. During heavy rains, storm waters get into the pipes through the cracks and cause sewer overflows, said Mandy Pitts, Hickory communication director. This, in turn, costs the city more money cleaning up overflows and treating the rainwater at the wastewater treatment facility.
The line is the main sewer connection line for many large facilities, including Frye Regional Medical Center, the Julian G. Whitener Municipal Building, downtown Hickory, Lenoir-Rhyne University and Highland Recreation Center at Stanford Park.
Glenn Hilton Park will be closed while Hickory Sand Company Inc. replaces the sewer lines within the park. The park is at 2000 Sixth St., NW.
"This pipe runs under parking lots in the park, the park and under the wooden footbridge over the creek," Pitts said.
The park is being closed for about a month for safety reasons while the line is being replaced. The park will reopen as soon as the portion of the sewer line replacement within the park is completed, Pitts said.
"Hickory Parks and Recreation encourages citizens to explore other parks while Hilton Park is closed," said Mack McLeod, the director of Hickory Parks and Recreation. "Hickory parks with similar amenities to Glenn C. Hilton Jr. Memorial Park include Stanford Park, Taft Broome Park, Kiwanis Park, Winkler Park and Henry Fork River Regional Recreation Park."
Gary Myers is parks supervisor for Hickory. He said several people come to Glenn Hilton Park every day to walk. He hopes they won't just stay home.
"All of our parks are well-kept," Myers said. "I hope they'll visit several of the other parks."
Myers said the only people who will be allowed into Glenn Hilton Park for the next month are Hickory Sand Company employees and parks and recreation staff.
"It's a safety thing," Myers said. "The line is going through a large part of the park, and we don't want anybody to get hurt."
In addition to construction at Glenn Hilton Park, work on the Cripple Creek project is also under way at the corner of Sixth Street and Ninth Avenue, NW.
Of the $3 million cost of the Cripple Creek project, $1,938,000 is coming from the American Recovering and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Half of that is a grant, and half of that money is a zero-interest loan for 20 years, Pitts said. The other $1.1 million for the project is coming from a grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.
For more information about the Cripple Creek project, go to www.hickorygov.com under Public Services/Public Utilities heading.
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