WS Chronicle

The new handicap accessible North Ward park, which will break ground next week, will now be named after former City Council Member Nelson Malloy Jr.

The Winston-Salem City Council voted unanimously to name it the Nelson L. Malloy, Jr. Park during its Monday, April 16, meeting. The park, located near the corner of Bethabara Road and Shattalon Drive, will be the first of its kind in the city designed around handicap accessibility. It’ll feature a dog park for service dogs, a splash pool, picnic shelters, playground, wheelchair swings and flowers that’ll appeal to the senses of the visually impaired. The park’s groundbreaking will be April 24 at 9 a.m. at 2615 Bethabara Road.

City Council Member Denise “DD” Adams recommended the park be named after Malloy, who’s been in a wheelchair most of his life and served on the City Council from 1989-2009. In a letter of recommendation, she said that during his time on the Council he helped craft the ordinance for Big Box Development, strengthened housing code enforcement, worked to lessen the impact the city landfill has on nearby residents and advocated for African-Americans to be put in positions of power in city government.

Malloy told the City Council he became an elected official to serve the community, not for recognition, but was honored to have his name grace the park.

“It is a great idea for the park, and once again I’m very humbled to have the park to be named on my behalf,” said Malloy.

The 2.9 acre $1 million park is one of the projects from the 2014 bonds.

During Monday’s meeting, the city also approved measures for KQC, LLC Investors to take over city loans from  Northwest Child Development Centers as it buys Mudpies Downtown East for about $1.9 million. KQC agreed to assume a $108,300 loan, $258,047 remaining on another loan and $47,713 on a forgivable loan. KQC also agreed to make a good faith effort to retain at least 50 percent of employees for five years and that at least 33 percent of families served there are low-to-moderate income.

Mudpies Downtown East opened in 2012 on East Seventh Street and currently serves 150 children with 30 full-time employees. Plans are for the Sunshine House to transform it into a Foundations Early Learning Center. Both leaders at the Sunshine House and NWCDC expect there to be little interruption to the families that use the location for childcare and for most of the employees there to be retained.

Also during the meeting, the City Council approved financing of up to $395,815 for extensive renovations at Southgate Apartments for 108 units of affordable housing. The project is also receiving a combination of loans and federal tax credits for a total of $13 million in funding.