By WECT Staff | April 21, 2021 at 6:39 AM EDT – Updated April 21 at 7:47 AM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The Wilmington City Council approved a resolution Tuesday night that changed the names of two downtown parks.
The park under construction at 10 Cowan St., which had previously been referred to as North Waterfront Park, will now be known as Riverfront Park.
The park which had previously been called Riverfront Park – located on Water St. at the foot of Market St. – will now be called Water Street Park.
Plans for the new park on Cowan Street have been underway since 2013 when the city purchased the 6.6 acres of riverfront land near the Isabel Holmes Bridge. In 2016, voters approved a $38 million parks bond which allowed the city to move forward with completing plans for the park. The bond initially estimated a $20 million price tag for the park.
In 2019, City Council approved an $11 million increase in budget for the park due to the increasing cost of construction materials, labor, and growth in the region. Even with this increase in cost, council members were told that some of the amenities that were originally promised would still not be included, but could be added in the future if funding allowed.
Council approved a resolution naming the new Regional Park at 10 Cowan Street (previously referred to as “North Waterfront Park”) Riverfront Park. The resolution also renamed the old Riverfront Park (located on Water Street at the foot of Market St) Water Street Park.
— Wilmington, NC (@CityofWilm) April 20, 2021
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