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The Town of Red Cross has hosted discussions with the public this year regarding the construction of a farm-related public park in property near town hall.

Recently, the town cleared a major hurdle for having the park happen when it was awarded $500,000 for the park.

In a press release Thursday from the officer of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Red Cross was one of 46 locations across the state to receive a grant from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund.

In total, the grant awarded $17.9 million to communities for parks and recreation-related projects.

“I think we’ve sort of been on pause with anything furthering those (park) plans until we found out whether or not we would get the grant,” Town Council member Andrew Smith said. “Now that we’ve got it, we will certainly ramp up those conversations. I know we’re going to want to address it, and makes some changes and tweaks.”

The council has named the location The Town of Red Cross Historic Farm Park.

Regarding the name, Smith said, “I think we hit the nail on the head. That’s sort of what we’re going for. We want something that reflects the culture of Red Cross. We’ve got a very rich agricultural history.”

Smith said the new park would solidify the history and “be a great representation” of it.