Wake County broke ground at Kellam-Wyatt County Park recently in its latest effort to expand green spaces in the area.
The 59-acre property located near the border of Raleigh and Knightdale will have community and demonstration gardens, nature trails, a renovated farmhouse and educational and recreational programs, among other features.
According to Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space director Chris Snow, the main thing community members wanted to see in the new park was walking trails.
"One of the biggest things we hear in almost any survey we do, and this is across the country, is (people want safe) places to walk," he said. "And so we're incorporating places to walk."
The Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the final plans for the park in late 2021, incorporating a public process for community input. TCC Enterprises, Inc., won the construction contract in October, with work on the property expected to conclude in 2027.
Work on the newest park is funded through the 2018 Parks, Greenways, Recreation and Open Space bond.
History of the donation
Kellam-Wyatt Farm is a three-generation family property that was originally part of a larger farm.
In 1936, George and Emma Poe Richardson bought the Gill Farm, which included what is now the Kellam-Wyatt site. The pair later divided the farm among the three daughters and grandchildren.
Starting in 1985, the Richardson daughters and grandchildren started selling sections of the farm to developers, creating the subdivisions that now surround the park. Kellam-Wyatt Farm is the last undeveloped piece of the original property, according to the project's website.
In 2004, Bob Kellam, one of the Richardsons' grandchildren, began a Community Supported Agricultural Cooperative on the farm with wife Susan Wyatt and his daughter Leewyn. The family sold organically grown produce on a subscription basis, including multiple different kinds of fruits and vegetables.
Kellam and Wyatt eventually donated the farm to the City of Oaks Foundation in 2013 with a conservation easement attached, limiting the use of the land to activities that promote conservation values like open space and habitat and watershed protection.
Kellam passed away in 2016, and the conservation easement serves as a way to keep his legacy and vision for the property alive.
In 2017, the City of Oaks Foundation contacted Wake County on behalf of the family. They wanted to donate the land to be used as either a park, nature preserve or agricultural site.
"Susan Wyatt and her late husband Bob Kellam and their daughter wanted to donate to the county for a park, and so that kind of started the conversation," Snow said. "Of course, we looked into it, where it was located. Not a lot of county facilities close by. Historic Oak View is our closest county park, and so we were excited to get it again."
The Wake County Board of Commissioners officially accepted the donation in 2018.
What's next
Kellam-Wyatt Farm is part of fulfilling the Wake County Parks, Recreation and Open Space mission, which states that the county's goal is "to provide outdoor recreation and educational opportunities while promoting environmental and cultural stewardship through a managed system of parks and open spaces," according to the project website.
"One thing that we focused on, that Wake County parks focuses on, is the open space, the green space," Snow said. "We don't have a lot of active recreation fields. We don't do gymnasiums or community centers. We really want people to get out, in the out of doors, in nature."
The county is not stopping with Kellam-Wyatt Farm. According to Snow, Lake Myra will be the next county park. There are also renovations on a number of current parks, including Lake Crabtree County Park, Blue Jay Point County Park and Harris Lake County Park.
