News

Donation will fund Flat Rock playground

By Bill Moss, Published: August 28, 2015

The Flat Rock Park and Recreation Foundation Inc. announced that construction of a children’s playground at The Park at Flat Rock will begin soon thanks to a generous donation by Kendall Gibson Bryan and Eleanor deSaussure Bryan for their children: Josephine deSaussure Bryan, Kendall Gibson Bryan, Jr., Eleanor Charlton Bryan Mathews and Sarah Huger Bryan Holyer.

“When my parents retired to North Carolina in the early 1970s, they continued the family connection to Flat Rock for our family," Eleanor Bryan said in a news release. "My great grandparents had property here and started coming to Flat Rock from Charleston in the early 1900s. Now the tradition continues with our grandchildren making happy memories—catching lightning bugs, finding salamanders in the stream, hiking in the beautiful mountains, and playing outside till the sun goes down! We seized the opportunity to give back to the place that has brought our family such joy when we saw the wonderful plans for the Park. What a great place it will be!”
The Bryan Playground at The Park at Flat Rock will be the first public playground in Flat Rock. To be built in phases, the first phase will be a central play structure for children ages 5 through 12. Additional features will include tree houses, bridges, and slides, cargo nets and a climbing wall—incorporating natural materials and an innovative design to help foster children’s overall health and creative play. It will be physically challenging and will encourage children to navigate, explore, and develop a sense of adventure. Construction of the Bryan Playground will begin in September 2015.
The Flat Rock Park and Recreation Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013 by the Village of Flat Rock, North Carolina to help raise the funds required to fulfill the vision of a signature municipal park for the community. That vision includes opportunities for recreation, health, and education for all generations while preserving the natural beauty that draws visitors from far and wide to Western North Carolina.
For more information about the Bryan Playground, please contact Maurean Adams at 828-697-8100 or email at maurean_adams@villageofflatrock.org.