Sylva lands another major park grant
Construction crews will be busy in Sylva’s Pinnacle Park for at least the next three years.
File photo
Sylva’s Pinnacle Park will undergo substantial upgrades after the town formally accepted a $340,000 grant from the state’s Parks and Recreation Trust Fund during its Oct. 23 meeting, setting in motion a series of improvements that will reshape one of Western North Carolina’s most popular hiking destinations.
Each year, local governments across the state apply for limited funds through a rigorous scoring process managed by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. Applications are judged on factors like public access, recreation need, natural resource protection, community involvement and project readiness. Typically, the state will receive between 40 and 50 applications, and will fund between 20 and 30 projects per cycle. That level of demand, and the detailed review criteria, make PARTF one of the most competitive recreation and conservation grant programs in North Carolina.
The contract approved by council authorizes the town to move forward with an ambitious three-year project that includes trail construction, accessibility upgrades and new public amenities. The grant requires a one-to-one match, which town officials plan to meet through a combination of outside funding — an ask to the Jackson Tourism Development Authority — and the town’s Fisher Creek Fund.
Sylva’s Fisher Creek Fund is a special revenue account dedicated to projects in the town’s watershed and Pinnacle Park area and provides local matching dollars for recreation and conservation projects.
Town Manager Paige Dowling told commissioners that the town has already applied to the TDA for a grant to help with the match and that a decision on that funding is expected in January. Whatever portion isn’t covered by the TDA will have to come from Fisher Creek.
The project will include an outdoor classroom, campsite improvements, a viewing platform, a handicapped-accessible platform and trail, site furnishings, a vault toilet, a trailhead kiosk, an entrance sign, benches and interpretive signage. In all, more than a mile of hiking trails will be added or upgraded by Oct. 31, 2028.
Related Items
Poetry reading at City Lights
Handmade Holiday Sale
Western North Carolina voters look to move forward
Plot twist emerges in Jackson library fight
Sylva will administer the grant on a reimbursement basis, submitting invoices as portions of the project are finished.
Dowling told commissioners that the project continues a string of successful grants aimed at implementing Pinnacle Park’s master plan. In recent months, Sylva has secured three separate grant awards for the property totaling $458,323, bringing the total amount of Pinnacle Park work over the next three years to $822,643.
“This is pretty incredible and exciting for Pinnacle Park,” he said. “It’s going to help us implement a lot of the master plan that’s been adopted.”
Mayor Johnny Phillips called the $340,000 town match from the Fisher Creek Fund “the smartest thing for us to do” — because it unlocks the PARTF match — but cautioned against depleting the fund.
“How do we stand with trying to keep that $3 million in place and live off the interest on it?” Phillips asked. “Are we still sort of in the ballpark of where we need to be?”
Dowling gave an honest assessment.
“This definitely will spend more than the interest, but you have the fund to maintain the park in perpetuity,” she said. “After we get through these grants though, the board needs to get back to spending the interest on maintenance each year. That’s why we’re going after other grant funding.”
The town’s fiscal year 2025-26 budget projects $92,000 in interest income through June 30, 2026.
Once complete, the new facilities will improve access for all visitors and expand opportunities for outdoor education, overnight camping and environmental interpretation. With the PARTF grant and a recent grant from the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Recreational Trails Program moving forward at the same time, Sylva expects construction activity at Pinnacle Park to remain steady through at least 2028.
