Grand Forks' new Grand Valley park to be named Crary Park
Mar. 12—GRAND FORKS — Crary Development and the Grand Forks Park District have entered into a naming agreement for the new 10-acre park being built as part of the Grand Valley Development.
Crary is giving the Park District $500,000 which will go towards matching the North Dakota Parks System Grant
that the Park District received in August.
As part of the naming agreement, the park will be known as Crary Park. Crary will receive the naming rights until 2063. The Park District approved the naming agreement at its March 5 meeting.
The naming agreement is very similar
to the one between Oxford Realty and the Parks District for the Oxford Sports Complex,
which was renamed from the Apollo Sports Complex. The only difference is that Crary is paying the whole amount upfront and not in installments. The payment is due by Dec. 1, 2024.
The whole budget for the project is currently $1 million. According to Park District Executive Director George Hellyer, construction on the project will begin this spring.
"The goal would be summer/fall 2024 to get that playground installed," Hellyer said. "We are working on another bid process do the bike path and the infrastructure for the park as well at this time that way we meet that June 30, 2025 (deadline for grant fund usage)."
The future park is located on the far south end of Grand Forks by the current intersection of South Washington Street and 62nd Avenue South within the development.
The park will be located in Crary's Grand Valley housing development
which has about 90 acres of new development. Development began last June and the first phase of the development will have 119 single-family homes and a 10-acre pond.
"Right now there's just a dirt field out there," Hellyer said. "I think that this summer/fall is going to really redefine that area out there with the city pond ... and then with the playground, it's going to really change the landscape out there which is exciting."
