Crews at Newtonville Community Park in Statesville have finished resurfacing the site's pickleball courts, completed a new playground, and wrapped up a parking lot and split-rail fence along the park's southern border, with a new disc golf course now on the to-do list before the 7.6-acre park is fully finished.
The update came in a Facebook post from City of Statesville NC, which said the park is “continuing to take shape” as crews knock out the remaining finishing touches, including pickleball court fencing and an expanded walking trail. The pickleball courts weren't a straightforward fix — the city previously reported that the contractor's initial resurfacing attempt failed to meet municipal standards, forcing a complete redo before any finishing touches could go in, according to the City of Statesville.
A Park Built in Phases
The playground work actually wrapped up earlier this year — city project updates show installation was completed in early April, after which staff handled grading and lawn seeding to prep the site for its phased reopening. That sequencing helps explain why a single neighborhood park has taken months to come together piece by piece, from playground to parking lot to courts.
Newtonville Community Park sits at 341 W. Bingham Street, directly across North Race Street from the much larger, 36.13-acre Mac Anderson Park. The park also connects to a 0.41-mile segment of the city's greenway network, linking North Race Street through the park to North Center Street right in front of Statesville High School — meaning the trail expansion crews still have planned will double as a pedestrian link for students and neighbors alike.
Disc Golf Joins a Growing Sports Lineup
Once the pickleball fencing and trail work are done, crews will build a new disc golf course on-site. That addition slots into a local sport that's already got a foothold in Statesville: the city currently ranks 39th among North Carolina municipalities for disc golf facilities, according to UDisc, with an existing 18-hole course at the Statesville Park and Soccer Complex and the Fourth Creek Disc Golf Course, which opened in 2024.
Pickleball has seen similar momentum. Before Newtonville's outdoor courts, Statesville already offered indoor pickleball at its Recreation Center and six outdoor courts at Caldwell Park, with more courts planned at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, per the city's own project updates. Newtonville's courts add to that expanding footprint just as the sport's popularity keeps climbing locally.
Part of a Bigger Municipal Push
Newtonville's overhaul isn't happening in isolation. It's one piece of a broader capital improvement push across Statesville this year that also includes a downtown police department expansion, upfits at Fire Station 5, and the $20 million, state-funded Waterline Spline Project. City Manager Ron Smith has briefed the Statesville City Council on Newtonville's progress throughout the spring and summer alongside other recreation projects, including shelter upgrades at Kimbrough Park and AV upgrades at the Statesville Event Center.
The parks work also reflects a rebranding effort within city government. In December 2025, Statesville renamed its former Recreation and Parks Department to Statesville Recreation & Economic Vitality, or REV, a shift meant to underscore how the city views park investment as tied to broader economic and community development goals, according to Spokeology.
What's Still to Come
Beyond the disc golf course and trail expansion, city planning documents lay out a longer-term vision for Newtonville that includes a dedicated dog park alongside the playground, parking, trail, and court improvements already underway. No completion date for the full build-out has been announced, but the pace of work over the past several months suggests the park's remaining pieces could come together in stages, much like everything that's led up to this point.
