Economic Development
Quality of Life
Parks & Recreation
The goal of the Gastonia Parks & Recreation Department is to provide a variety of active and passive recreation opportunities and to preserve valuable open space for the enjoyment of the citizens of Gastonia. The department strives to be receptive to the recreational needs of the entire population and to provide a professional and caring staff that will fulfill the needs of each citizen.
Gastonia's recreational facilities, parks, and open space encompass approximately 600 acres. Six professionally staffed community centers provide a variety of passive and active recreation opportunities for use by the general public. Gymnasiums, clubrooms, game rooms, tennis courts, playgrounds, picnic areas, walking tracks, and athletic fields make up the amenities offered at most sites. A skate park is located at Lineberger Park, the City's oldest park.
A playground showpiece can be found at Martha Rivers Youth Sports Complex in the form of an acre-large children's playground. Through a massive community effort involving private funding and volunteer labor, this largely wooden structure of multiple levels includes such features as a fort, a ship, a race car, swings, slides, a sand pit in which to dig "dinosaur" bones, a talking fish, places to hide, things to climb, places to explore and more, all interconnected by a series of ramps and catwalks above a safe, rubberized surface.
Youth and adult athletes of all abilities can participate in organized leagues encompassing the major sports of baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball. The City operates two large swimming pools during the summer months and in addition to general public swim times, also offers swimming classes. Thirty-eight tennis courts throughout the City are available for use by the general public and the Gastonia Municipal Golf Course features a challenging, well maintained, and affordable 18 hole Par 71 course. Sims Legion Park offers a 385-foot baseball field, grandstand and bleachers, little league and junior fields. Along with the City's ball field complexes at Martha Rivers and Ferguson Park, this facility is useful in attracting tournaments to the Gastonia area.
Unique in the City's recreation holdings is the Trap & Skeet range. This facility is open to the public and provides a skeet and trap range that may be used for a nominal fee. Weekend tournaments are also held for local shooters. For the nature enthusiast, Crowder's Mountain State Park offers hiking, picnicking, fishing, rock-climbing, and more, all in a natural, rustic setting. The recreational walker can choose from seven tracks located throughout the City and the Avon/Catawba Greenway is a 2.7 mile paved, linear trail that can accommodate walkers, joggers, inline skaters, and cyclists, and is handicapped accessible. Within the City's boundaries lie a variety of recreational opportunities. From parks and play areas to gymnasiums and clubrooms; from organized athletics and classes to dances and parties; the Gastonia Parks and Recreation Department has something for everyone.
Martha Rivers Park
Martha Rivers Park sits on 58 beautiful acres in the southern section of Gastonia. The park consists of four youth baseball/softball fields, four soccer fields, a "one of a kind" community built playground, picnic shelters, and approximately three miles of paved walking trails. The athletic fields were built to professional standards and play host to local recreational leagues, school teams, and local, state, regional, and national tournaments. The playground covers approximately an acre and has an appraised value of over $600,000. Through traffic counts and daily assessments, it was estimated that the park attracted almost a half million visitors in 2004. The park is located at 1515 Neal Hawkins Road
Chuck Dellinger
Recreation Director
704.866.6838
Recreation
Avon / Catawba Creek Greenway
The Avon/Catawba Creek Greenway opened to the public on December 1, 2001 and quickly became a popular place for recreational enjoyment for the citizens of Gastonia. The trail-head of the 2.7 mile greenway begins at Lineberger Park and ends at the Southeast Center / Armory on Robinwood Road and has several access points along the route. The trail is used for walking, running, bicycling, in-line skating, family outings, nature watching, and picnics. The ten-foot wide asphalt path was built to meander along creek sides and through neighborhoods leaving the areas as natural as possible
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