MEBANE, N.C. (WGHP) —The city is nearing the completion of site improvements at its newest park as it works to build Mebane’s first ADA accessible inclusive playground.

It’s been nearly eight months since construction began at Cates Farm Park to prepare the site for the playground to be installed, which is scheduled to start later in November. The city says it will be called “Everyone’s Playground” for its inclusive nature.

“The work that’s been done here at Cate’s Farm Park has just been incredible. The grading work of running water and sewer … We had to build a mini park … to provide this playground. So the site and entities such as the shelter and the picnic tables and the site furnishings have all had to come from basically ground up,” Mebane Recreation and Parks Director Aaron Davis said.

The ADA accessible inclusive playground will sit in Cates Farm Park. It’s 54 acres of what was once a pickle farm. 

While the park opened in Jan. 2021, offering two miles of trails ,the city always had plans to build the playground and started construction for the project early this year.

“The goal from day one was to keep the park passive in nature and to provide a very high impact to the community and a very low impact to the environment,” Davis said.

Work is almost complete on a shelter with restrooms, a parking lot and an entryway along with sidewalks, picnic tables and benches.

“We really had to clearcut a lot of the land to make the playground possible,” Davis said.

The playground will be a wooden structure including ADA accessible playground towers, interconnecting bridges, a slide and a wheelchair swing.

“I think that inclusivity is a big topic right now, and this playground is going to offer that to anybody who wants to come out here, enjoy it,” Davis said.

The overall cost for the project is more than $1 million, and the playground will be complete and ready for use in spring 2024.