The Preservation Society of Chapel Hill presented its 2008 Preservation Award to the North Carolina Botanical Garden for its restoration efforts in Battle Park, a 93-acre tract of woods and trails on the east side of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Peter White, director of the N.C. Botanical Garden, and Stephen Keith, Battle Park curator, accepted the award at a dinner May 7.
“Every year the Preservation Society looks around our community to see which projects are furthering our mission of preserving the historic, natural and man-made landmarks of Chapel Hill,” said Ernest Dollar, director of the Preservation Society. “This year, in discussions with our board, Battle Park just kept coming up as an important project.”
At the request of Carolina Chancellor James Moeser, the N.C. Botanical Garden took on management responsibility for Battle Park in July 2004. Since then, staff and volunteers have worked diligently to improve the pedestrian trail system and to restore the Piedmont forest by eliminating invasive exotic specimens. Much of the forest in this tract predates European settlement of the area. For more information about Battle Park, see http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/39/ .
The Chapel Hill Preservation Society was formed in 1972. One of their earlier projects was the restoration of the Horace Williams House on East Rosemary Street, which now serves as the headquarters of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill (http://www.chapelhillpreservation.com/).
N.C. Botanical Garden contact: Laura Cotterman, (919) 962-9457, lmcotter@unc.edu
News Services contact: Susan Houston, (919) 962-8415, susan_houston@unc.edu