Park Bond 2024
On November 5, 2024, Durham Residents voted yes for the opportunity to make a community-changing investment in Durham’s Parks.
The $85 million Bond will fund the new Aquatic Center at Merrick-Moore Park and the transformative renovation of Long Meadow and East End Parks.
East End and Long Meadow Parks
A new pool, play areas, athletic fields and courts, and other improvements at Long Meadow and East End Parks on Alston Ave. This historic project would connect and make major improvements to two neighborhood parks rooted in segregation.
In 1932, the land for both parks was donated to the City of Durham. Long Meadow Park was initially segregated, accessible only to whites. The next block over, East End Park was established simultaneously for African Americans. While the parks have been desegregated for decades, this project would symbolically unite these two parks, creating a single park corridor along the R. Kelly Bryant Bridge Trail, featuring the latest innovations in park design, chosen by our community through a months-long engagement process that was completed last year, including playgrounds, athletic courts, and trails connecting the community and improving safety.
New Aquatic Center at Merrick-Moore Park
If funded, the Aquatic Center would be the newest and most inclusively designed public water park in Durham. Designed directly from residents' feedback gathered through Durham Parks and Recreation’s Splash & Play Project, this park and multi-pool aquatic center will feature state-of-the-art design and fun features, including zero-depth entry, a lazy river, and pool space for recreation swimming for all ages and abilities.
It will be located next door to Wheels Roller Rink at Merrick-Moore Park, activating this section of East Durham and completing the transformation of Merrick-Moore Park from once vacant land and abandoned buildings to a recreational complex serving a historically underserved area of Durham and the region as a whole.
