Cary has ambitious plans to build 2 new community centers. Will residents buy in?

Cary has ambitious plans to build two new community centers, but town leaders know they’ll need resident support before they can spend hundreds of millions on the complexes.

The town launched a survey Monday to collect the perspectives of Cary residents on several community center projects, including The Center, a proposed complex for recreation and sports, and the Mills Park Community Center, a multi-generational accessible facility.

Depending on the costs of the project and residents’ opinions, The Center could end up on the March 2024 ballot as a referendum for Cary residents.

“We basically created a wish list of The Center of all the things we want to see and how we want to see it,” Mayor Harold Weinbrecht told The News & Observer. “Now we’ve got to figure out how much would all that cost. If it’s out of our reach, then we have to scale back.”

The town says The Center, proposed in the South Hills Mall area, would help establish a home for Cary’s recreational needs in the community and would be a site for youth, seniors and sports in the town.

As proposed, the 100,000-square-foot complex could have a 4,000-seat arena, a restaurant, numerous basketball courts and multipurpose space.

Meanwhile, the Mills Park Community Center would join a campus in the western part of town that’s already home to two schools and a fire department.

Weinbrecht emphasized that the proposals are tentative. The council and staff have a few more steps to take before solidifying any plans for development — including the name of the facility and its spelling. The facility is called “The Centre” in some plans.

“There’s so many questions that have to be answered,” Weinbrecht said.

The Center

After Epic Games bought Cary Towne Center in early 2021, the town proposed building The Center complex for $193 million. The town was awarded $35 million in grant funding two years ago from Raleigh and Wake County from hospitality tax money.

Then the project location moved to 6 acres on Buck Jones Road, the current site of South Hills Mall. As it stands now, it will take up 10.9 acres with three levels, including a parking deck and greenway space.

A fourth level will include an outdoor track and tennis table, public art sculpture, pickleball courts, a bar and restaurant, and a greenhouse.

Other features of the 100,000 square feet Center could include:

• A 4,000-seat arena for championship games, e-gaming tournaments and other performances

• A senior center

• 12 full-sized basketball courts that convert into 20 volleyball courts

• 25,000 square feet of multipurpose space for event support, tournament meetings, exhibits

• Full-sized team locker rooms

• Full-service restaurant

• Elevated walking track

• Weight room and workout facilities

• Storage space for sport equipment

• Commercial kitchen space

“That’s as ambitious as it will get,” Town Manager Sean Stegall said at the council’s quarterly meeting on Nov. 10, where members were briefed on the project.

“If somebody says, ‘Hey Sean, can we afford this?’ Well, we can afford a billion dollar building, as long as the community is willing to be taxed for it,” he said.

Stegall said the town’s leaders and staff need to test the community first to see if there is a willingness to pay potentially millions of dollars for the development.

“This project alone would be its own tax increase,” he said. “That’s why the referendum is important.”

The town has taken projects to referendums before, Weinbrecht said.

“Our community sees a lot of value in the parks and facilities we have,” he said. “And so we tried to be very careful in what we asked for. We make sure that when we ask for something that we need it and we’ve got it all figured out.”

Weinbrecht said the project “is not going to happen anytime soon.” Public engagement and a conceptual design could be completed by the beginning of fall 2023, followed by the referendum. Construction could happen over several years after that. The town has selected David Kane+Populous as the design team lead.

“We’re talking long-term because this is expensive,” he said. “It will take some time to design it all. There’s so much up in the air at this point.”

Mills Park Community Center

The town identified a need for a modern, large multi-purpose community center in an accessible location. The property of Mills Park, located at 425 Mills Park Drive in Cary, was purchased in 2001 and currently has two schools, a fire station and a greenway connection.

Cary hired Charlotte-based architectural team ADW Architects and Denver-based Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture to take the led on designing the center.

A proposal calls for:

• 3 multi-purpose play courts

• Indoor walking track

• Workout space

• Multi-purpose rooms

• Programmable outdoor spaces

• Senior Center

• Aquatics

• Police Substation

• Support facilities for offices, storage, parking

“The vision for these facilities reflects Cary’s goal to continue promoting health and enjoyment to our citizens and their community,” said Doug McRainey, the town’s director of community projects.

The town will collect input from the community survey through Feb. 28. It can be accessed online at townofcary.com/projects-initiatives.