The Vision for Charles D. Owen Park

Honor what people have long loved - walking, fishing, play. gathering, and time near water - while translating those experiences into a more natural, resilient park shaped by the river, wetlands, habitat, and living systems of the site today. 

Concept map of the Vision for Charles D. Owen Park with a legend. Eighteen points of interest are identified: 1. Improved Entry and Arrival Drive along Warren Wilson Road in the top right corner of the map; 2. Wetland Education Pavilion near the park entrance on the bank of Beetree Creek; 3. Parking Node – there are five of them identified along the road through the park, including in a loop near the middle of the park; 4. Interpretive Node which overlooks a wetland with a boardwalk near the park entrance; 5. Boardwalk Seating Node – there are four along a boardwalk loop through the wetland area of the park; 6. Wetland Overlook located in an offshoot of the main boardwalk loop; 7. Seating Area – there are three seating areas identified on both ends and in the center of the park along trails and paths; 8. River Overlook in an offshoot of the main boardwalk loop at the back side of the park located at the bottom right of the map; 9. Nature Inspired Playground in the center of the park near parking nodes and surrounded by the primary trail; 10. Main Pavilion & ADA Restroom right next to the playground; 11. Flexible Use Lawn right below the Main pavilion and playground12. Lowland River Access – there are two access points, one near the flexible use lawn near the center of the map and one at farthest end of the park from the entrance located at the bottom left of the map; 13. Forest Pavilion near the main parking loop at the top left of the map; 14. Main Parking Loop & Bio-retention in the center of the parking loop; 15. Rain Gardens which are below the parking loop and left of the Flexible Use Fields; 16. Multi-use Sports Courts to the left of the parking loop and rain gardens; 17. Adaptive Fishing Platform along a primary path next to the Swannanoa River at the bottom left of the map; 18. Overlook Pavilion at the far bottom left of the map near an arrow labeled future connection to Warren Wilson River Trail. Primary trails are marked in yellow and connect all of the main amenities of the park above the Swannanoa River and on both sides of the wetland. Secondary walks are marked in white and connect parking areas and courts to primary trails. Tertiary paths are marked in tan and go between primary trails. Boardwalks are marked in brown and are primarily located in one large wetland area on the right side of the park.

Click on the concept to view in full screen.

Dive in Deeper

Want to explore this concept further? Check out this online document for additional diagrams with information about the concept's areas and uses, paths structure, ecological makeup, and drainage plans, as well as more detailed looks at the proposed river overlook, river access point, and wetland boardwalk. 

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