Catawba County’s Parks Division opened its third park on Friday, December 12, 2008, when St Stephens Park, formerly a part of the City of Hickory’s system, reopened for the first time since it was closed in 2005.

The park was funded through an appropriation of $180,000 from the County’s Parks Trust Fund, which was first established in fiscal year 1997. It joins Bakers Mountain Park and Riverbend Park in the County’s Park System. The Catawba County Board of Commissioners appropriated an additional $30,000 from the Parks Trust Fund in October 2008 to address dramatic increases in construction costs.

County staff constructed a trail, required under a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant that funded the original opening of the park in 1979, and staff also renovated an existing playground area and will install educational landscaping over time, reducing the overall cost to renovate and reopen the park.