People who live in and near Prosperity Village in north Charlotte have a new place to play.
A one-acre space called The Green at Prosperity Village is now open to the public. The site at Benfield and Johnston-Oehler roads formally opened Saturday at an event held by the Prosperity Village Area Association and the city.
The Green is meant to be used for community and educational events as well as recreation and plain old fun.
The area is near Docia Crossing Road and Interstate 485. The city described it as "leftover right-of-way" and public property. It's the first open space for the city's Placemaking program.
“Participants from the very active Prosperity Village Area Association have used Docia Crossing for community events, but they really wanted and needed a civic open space,” Erin Chantry, principal planner and urban designer for Charlotte's Department of Planning, Design and Development, said in a news release.
In general, the goal of the program is to take vacant or underused public spaces and make them better for people.
The Green isn't the only Placemaking project.
Five other Placemaking program initiatives – streetscaping and art at Montford Drive, a mural at Idlewild Road, a plaza at the Four-Mile Creek Trail trailhead, decorations on traffic-signal cabinets on Beatties Ford Road and a sculpture at the North Rail Trail – debuted this year.
A bus stop project on West Boulevard is also planned.
