Historical Background

View or Save the Johnston County Regional Park Master Plan (PDF)

About the Park

Johnston County Regional Park is the county’s first park that will be owned and operated by Johnston County.

In 2019, the county founded the Parks, Greenways, and Open Space Program, and hired the first county Parks and Open Space Director.

In 2022, the county program, which is now the Parks and Open Space Department, created a master plan to acquire a vision for the Booker Tract, off Matthews and Polenta Road, and the GCAA site, off Cleveland Road.

In 2023, the master plan was completed and adopted by the Johnston County Board of Commissioners. Funding sources have been compiled over the years to make the plan a reality.

In 2024, Johnston County was finally ready to take on the first phase of the highly anticipated Regional Park.

About the Site

In 2017, the Booker family offered to donate 12 acres of the future park land to Johnston County. The parcel was not accepted due to the terrain that made it difficult to create a stand-alone park unit. Concerned community residents, worried about the urban sprawl consuming the land, decided to band together and purchase the 70-acre tract.

This group, headed by Denton Lee, who had a history with the Booker family, formed an advocacy non-profit (Cleveland Community Parks and Recreation Association, Inc.). They developed a plan to transition the land into a facility providing recreational opportunities for the Cleveland Community.

In 2020, the county commissioners agreed to purchase the land from the non-profit with the hopes of developing the first Johnston County Park through grants and the use of dedicated open space funding.