Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Chapter 3: Detailed Design

the property. • A Rural Heritage Park south of Morrisville- Carpenter Road next to the Page House to celebrate Morrisville’s agricultural past and provide an outdoor festival area for community events such as concerts, plays, and historic reenactments. These sites would be linked together and to other destinations in the Town Center by sidewalks and greenways. Interpretive displays and pavement markings could lead residents and visitors on historic routes through the Town Center area, and help them learn the different threads in the story of Morrisville. The Town Center lies at a crossroads for greenways at both a community and a regional scale. Immediately to the west of the project area is the Morrisville Community Park. Further to the west lie a number of Cary parks and the American Tobacco Trail. To the east are Cedar Fork District Park, the Morrisville Nature Park, Lake Crabtree County Park, and Umstead State Park. A third park that is recommended in the Town Center Design would be located in the area east of Chapel Hill Road, north of Aviation Parkway, and west of the current Cotton Drive. Here, it is anticipated that a stormwater facility will be needed to manage runoff from new development in the Town Center. This location would take advantage of an existing pond for this purpose, and also use it to create a water feature that would serve as a focus for the park. A park in this hard-to-develop location would provide open space for the growing neighborhoods to the north and east, preserve a green buffer from new development extending east along Aviation Parkway, and help remind visitors of Morrisville’s rural roots. In addition to protecting a network of open space in the Town Center, key historic structures in public ownership, such as

the Christian Church, should be restored for public use in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Structures. Potential uses of this building might include a small museum, interpretive center, and/or public meeting space. In addition, if and when the current site of Fire Station #1 becomes available along the frontage of the rail corridor, the original train depot should be reconstructed using available historic records, for possible use as a visitor center to help orient newcomers to the Town Center.

Tohelp catalyze the restorationof thehistoric crossroads village, the Town Center Plan calls for restoring the old Christian Church and making it available once again for use by the community. (Photo: Town of Morrisville )

Conclusion In the variety of ways outlined in this chapter, the Detailed Design for the Town Center seeks to honor and support the Town’s adopted Mission Statement of “enhancing the quality of life by preserving our past and protecting our future.” The Mission Statement calls for a collective community partnership to achieve these ends. Chapter 4 identifies a number of implementation projects and next steps to provide focus to this work.

34 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007