Press Release -- Oct 4, 2019 - Buncombe County Recreation Services was recently named the Healthy Play and Recreation Initiative award winner at North Carolina Recreation and Park Association’s annual conference. The award comes with a matching grant from Cunningham Recreation and GameTime for the East Asheville Library playground. That site will serve as a National Demonstration Site by PlayCore’s Center for Outreach, Research, and Education (CORE) for data collection to highlight best practices and outcomes achieved.
“At the heart of Buncombe County’s mission is a desire to improve the quality of life for all residents – including enriching families through play and discovery,” said Josh O’Conner, Director of Recreation Services. “This award is a great representation of our department’s work to enhance and improve parks, public spaces, and recreational experiences. The grant that accompanies the award will allow us to include critical components in the East Asheville Library playground that support the whole child and whole environment, encouraging neighbors to be more active and social together.”
Buncombe County is currently working with PlayCore’s team on the design of the East Asheville Library playground. Construction on the new building for the library branch is expected to begin by the end of the year.