The Blanchie Carter Discovery Park ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Thursday morning at the West Southern Pines Center for African American History, Cultural Arts and Business on West New York Ave. in Southern Pines.
The Southern Pines Land and Housing Trust hosted the ceremony. In 2021, the Southern Pines Land and Housing Trust purchased the 17-acre property that was formerly the Southern Pines Primary School.
Blanchie Carter, after whom the park is named, attended the event. Carter is a former principal of Southern Pines Primary School.
In an invitation to the renovated park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, Executive Director of Southern Pines Land and Housing Trust Sandra Dales wrote, “We are overwhelmed with excitement as we prepare to re-open our park, where many children have and will come again to play, imagine, and invent!”
During the ceremony, Duke Energy Foundation presented a $25,000 check to the Land and Housing Trust.
The Land and Housing Trust organized a fundraiser last year to finance the playground’s renovation. They are planning a concert featuring Nnenna Freelon on May 17 for this year’s fundraiser.
Get your tickets here: https://bit.ly/3SZsg7O.
Feature photo: CEO of Moore County Chamber of Commerce Linda Parsons (left), Executive Director of Southern Pines Land and Housing Trust Sandra Dales, Blanchie Carter, and Chair of Southern Pines Land and Housing Trust Vincent Gordon. Photo by Sandhills Sentinel photographer Melissa Schaub.
