This grant provides funding to the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park to add an Outdoor Pavilion and Education Center. Sylvan Heights is a significant economic driver for the small, rural community of Scotland Neck, generating an estimated annual economic impact of $2 million. The park has seen a 66% increase in annual visitations over the past five years, serving 55,000 visitors in 2017. Sylvan Heights has the opportunity to take advantage of demand to host more and larger school and private events, but currently only has space for events of up to 100 people. The new outdoor pavilion will triple that capacity. Local businesses such as restaurants, caterers, and hotels have tracked the demand for services from the park and its visitors and believe that the larger events at the pavilion will generate a combined $165,000 annually in direct revenues for them. Golden LEAF funding will be used for site preparation and construction.
