Agenda - 12-10-2002-8e - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 SCOPE OF WORK Cultural and Archaeological Survey Chapel Hill Township Park and Educational Campus Orange County Project Background Orange County acquired 193 acres in June 2001 for the proposed Chapel Hill Township Park and Educational Campus (CHATPEC). The subject property is located near the intersection of Eubanks Road and Old NC 86 (Attachment A). Most of the property (149 acres) was acquired from the Cate family, who owned and operated a farm since (at least) the mid-1800s. The remaining 44 acres, with frontage along Eubanks Road, were acquired from the Hunter family. Roughly two-thirds of the property is wooded with pines and mixed-aged hardwoods. Portions were logged in recent years. The former open agricultural fields (50 acres) now support 10- to 15-year-old pines. Two small streams flow through the property: Jones Creek winds along the north and eastern sections and Buckhorn Branch flows through the southwest portion. Both are headwater tributaries of Bolin Creek. The former Cate property features a 1929 farmhouse (wood frame bungalow), a large (gambrel roof) dairy barn and several other small outbuildings. The remains of a late 19th Century log house are also located on the property, to the east of Jones Creek. Orange County ERCD has gathered some preliminary data on the former landowners and structures found on the property. Portions of the Cate property were surveyed in the early 1990s as part of a countywide architectural inventory (OR 436 Cates Farm). The surveyors documented the main building complex including the house, dairy barn and surrounding outbuildings and collected some historical information from the former owner, Mr. John Henry Cate, Jr. The log building near Jones Creek and the log tobacco barns near the south entrance were not recorded in the survey. Largely undeveloped lands surround the subject property. It is bordered to the west by Old NC 86 and the Morris Grove Heights subdivision (12 homes), to the north by Eubanks Road and Duke Forest property, to the east by Duke Forest and undeveloped woodlands owned by the Leak family, and to the south by a 50-acre wooded tract. The parkland portion of the property (currently proposed to be south and west of Jones Creek) will be available for a combination of active and low-impact recreational uses, including athletic fields, hiking trails, picnic areas, and cultural interpretation. The school-related portion of the property (proposed north and east of Jones Creek) will be planned for at least one school and as many as three schools. A CHATPEC Master Plan Work Group began meeting in September 2002 to develop a concept plan for the entire property by June 2003. The findings from the archaeological survey will be reported to this Work Group for its use in designing the project. 3