White Deer Park is expected to open in October, but Geo. Raper & Son, Inc. Project Manager Fran Robertson said Aug. 14 the contractor is ahead of schedule.

Town Council members toured the park to learn about the updated status at the park.

Robertson showed off the best view of the park’s blooming wildflowers from one of the picnic shelters.

“In other words, when you want to rent, get this shelter,” Robertson said.

Along with wildflowers, Town staff is growing wild corn and other flowers native to the area. Pink and yellow stakes around the wildflowers mark off the staff’s analysis for which plants fare better than others.

Robertson showed Council members where residents of the summers walk neighborhood could enter the park with bikes.

“What a great backyard,” she said. “They are really fortunate to have that.”

With almost the entire play yard installed, Economic Development Director Tony Beasley said Town staff has been trying out the equipment.

“The adult kids are all waiting for the slide,” he said.

After a summer rain, animal tracks can be seen in dirt nearby the walking trail around the park. Hawks, owls and deer are among the frequent guests in the park, Robertson said, but students will get a chance to see several more tracks in the concrete near the main parking lot. There, animal tracks are stamped into the sidewalk for park visitors to see.

An old walking trail remains from before Garner bought the park property. The trail will be marked off so that walkers can take a nature tour as well.

Floors are going in at the Nature Center, where the White Deer will be housed in a special case that can be seen from both inside and outside of the building.

In the large classroom area of the center, reclaimed hardwood from the old Buffaloe homestead is laid on the floor. The green and white paint on the wood not be visible when the project is complete, but Robertson said even when the wood is sanded down, there will be differences in the color.

At the front of the park, Beasley said the large plot of grass would be maintained by public works. However, it will be available if Garner decides to expand the Parks and Recreation Department even more.

“It’s a beautiful piece that the Town can still grow on,” he said.

Some ways White Deer Park is going green

Toilets flushed using rainwater collected in cisterns

Picnic tables and park benches made from recycled plastic

Beams of park shelters made from recycled material

White deer storybook house utilized as a nature education station

Reclaimed hardwood from old Buffaloe homestead for floor in Nature Center

Seat walls at Nature Center topped off with slate from the old high school

Reused fence from along Aversboro Road inside the park

Solar collector panels on roof of restrooms to heat the floors in winter and heat water year-round