news-record.com

GREENSBORO — The city could soon have 17 more acres of park land on the western side of Greensboro near Adams Farm.

The City Council on Tuesday will consider paying $2 million for land off Hilltop Road, adjacent to the former Twin Oaks Golf Course.

If purchased, the property will become part of the area around the Southwest Recreation Center, which has yet to be developed. On Wednesday, the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended that the City Council buy the land.

The city has planned for about a decade to build a recreation center in that area. The last new Parks and Recreation center built in the city was the Leonard Recreation Center, which opened in 1997.

In 2000 and 2006, voters approved the bonds to build the center and develop the park around it.

In 2005, the City Council purchased 28 acres of land south of Hilltop Road for $1.54 million.

BRC Twin Oaks LLC is now asking for $2 million for the 17 acres of land north of the original park site and west of the old golf course.

The asking price is less than the $3 million appraised value of the land, according to city staff. The city could use 2006 bond money — set aside to purchase new park land — to pay for it, said Dan Maxson of Greensboro Parks and Recreation.

The piece of land would give the park direct access from Hilltop Road.

“It will make it a lot more accessible,” said Nasha McCray, planning and project development manager for Parks and Recreation.

It is unclear when the recreation center and park would be developed. The staff would first work with residents to figure out what they wanted at the park.

“We’re just excited about going back out to the public and getting their thoughts,” Maxson said.

A 2007 master plan for the park includes a recreation center with a basketball court, a fitness area and meeting space, multipurpose athletic fields, picnic shelters and a dog park.

“If we do get the approval for the purchase, we will have to go back and look at the master plan and probably make some changes,” McCray said.

The city is also open to renaming the recreation center and park, since Guilford County opened the similarly named Southwest Park this year.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com