Graham’s city council has finalized a decision to buy three parcels of land adjacent to Bill Cooke Park on Town Branch Road “for the intended use of park and recreational facilities,” specifically to expand the city’s Bill Cooke Park.
The land purchase totals about 12 acres along Town Branch Road, owned by the descendants of former long-time Graham planning board member James E. “Bill” Teer; Teer died in 2021, and his wife, Ann, died last fall.
Their daughters, Susan Teer Lambert and Cathy Teer Evans, now own each of the three properties which are immediately adjacent to Bill Cooke Park; the three parcels currently have a tax value of $461,044; the city agreed to purchase them for $615,000.
3 PROPERTIES PURCHASED:
The council had entered a closed session at last month’s meeting to discuss the potential purchase, and emerged from as short, five-minute closed meeting this month to formalize and vote on the $615,000 purchase, which passed unanimously, 5-0.
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The current park, of about 45 acres, has three lighted baseball fields, six lighted tennis courts with backboard hitting wall, one outdoor basketball court, two open-air picnic shelters with covered grills, a playground, restrooms, a paved accessible mixed-use trail (.9 mile), a sandstone walking track, a nature trail (.25 mile), historic farmhouse structure, and a dog park. City officials have not outlined their plans for the new acreage.
