CARY DONATES 20 ACRES OF PRIME REAL ESTATE FOR NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN WESTERN CARY

Second adjacent school site offered at 2000 price per acre

CARY, NC – In its continuing effort to support quality public education, the Town of Cary will give 20 acres of western Cary land to the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) for a new elementary school; the Town has also offered WCPSS the opportunity to purchase another 33 acres for a nearby middle school at the 2000 price of $21,225 per acre, a cost substantially lower than today’s market value of as much as $140,000 per acre in the area.  Both swaths of land are part of the 240-acre Hawes tract, which the Town of Cary acquired in 2000 for future parkland on Green Level to Durham Road near Cary Park .  The Town plans to locate a park on 50 remaining acres along the northern edge of the tract, including approximately 20 acres of open space.

In addition to the land donation, the Town will pay an estimated $812,500 to cover one half of the cost of running water to the property, building a collector street to the southern property line, and an access road through the property to the middle school and future park, thus bringing the total value of Cary’s land and services contributions toward the two new schools to an estimated $7.5 million in today’s dollars.

“This is not a contribution by the Council to the Wake County School Board; this is a contribution by the taxpayers of Cary to Wake County .  This is an indicator of the commitment that our citizens have to quality schools and to capacity,” said Council member Jennifer Robinson during the January 25, 2007 Council meting at which the Council voted unanimously for the effort.

"After a long process, we are excited about the opportunity to serve our students in comprehensive schools on the land provided by the Town of Cary ," said Patti Head, chair of the Wake County Board of Education. "We are very grateful to Mayor McAlister, the Cary Town Council and county commissioners for helping make this possible."

Read more about the Town of Cary ’s role in siting these two new schools at www.townofcary.org.

###