Officials think this will bring a lot of money and attention to the area because it is a piece of economic development that can't be torn down.
The Carvers Creek State Park is set to go on over 4,300 acres of land along East Manchester in Spring Lake.
The land was willed to the nature conservatory by James Stillman Rockefeller, a descendant of John D. Rockefeller, who used the Cumberland County land for his Long Valley Farm and as a vacation home. The Olympic gold medalist and savvy businessman left behind the land for a generation of people, many of which don't know it exists.
The conservatory gifted the property to the state in 2005 and it has been staffed for the past three years with plans to open.
Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey gave ABC11 rare access to the park and said the possibilities are endless for the park he hopes to see open in the near future.
"We're hoping, got our fingers crossed that it's going to be in the very near future. We're hoping sometime in the fall maybe of 2013, maybe in the spring of 2014,' Rey said.
In addition to the tours of the Rockefeller property, as well as the walking trails and fishing, the mayor hopes it brings an economic boost to the county.
"You're talking about people staying in hotels, people wanting to eat in our restaurants, but also just adding to a part of our culture," Rey said. "This is going to be a big part of the growth that's going to be taking in the southern part of our county and of course what's happening around Fort Bragg and Fayetteville."
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