Marsh Creek Park, a park owned by the City of Raleigh that includes the Marsh Creek Skate Park, recently received the construction of a new playground. On June 25, 2011, Raleigh Parks and Rec held a ribbon-cutting for the new playground, and a new community center will be opened with an official ribbon-cutting in July 2012.

The new playground was built to be accessible and “barrier free”, implementing wide, gradual sidewalks and a seamless poured-in-place rubber play surface. The new play area includes some interesting elements that stimulate sight and hearing. The playground was constructed with the help of two $20,000 grants. One was from the All Kids Can program of the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust in cooperation withBoundless Playgrounds, Inc. The other grant came from Wake County and Eat Smart, Move More NC.

The new community center is a beautiful 24,000 square-foot building that was built with an eye toward sustainability and being “green”. Heating and cooling are maintained by automated systems for maximum efficiency. The need for electrical lighting is minimized using daylighting principles and the center’s water is heated by solar energy. Inside, you’ll find a large, dividable multi-purpose room for classes or events, an art room, a computer lab, a fitness room and a full air-conditioned gym with true hardwood flooring. Designs for the building also meet state and city requirements so that the building may be used for child care. Below the front of the building, near the main entrance, there is an additional 5,000 square-foot covered outdoor area that will be used for programs.

Landscaping around the center and the playground includes drought-tolerant plantings to minimize water requirements. As is the case with many of the new Parks and Recs projects that have opened recently, funding for the new center was covered by the 2003 Parks and Greenway Bond.

One of the big draws for Marsh Creek continues to be the innovative skate park that opened in May of 2009. The park includes a deep swimming-pool like bowl area and a horizontal-flow area that has elements like curbs and railings. Blogger Harsh Creak has posted some great photos of the park and local filmmaker Netposer has posted some video of the bowl. Marsh Creek also includes a lighted ball-field, a multi-purpose and an inline hockey rink.