WILMINGTON — A nonprofit with a vision for a 20-acre, state-of-the-art athletic complex is seeking public input on refining the plan and hoping to create cultural unity across the city.
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Optimism Oasis is a sports and wellness facility planned to be located on McRae Street in Wilmington’s Northside region. The design includes pickleball and tennis courts, an indoor gym and swimming complex with one Olympic-sized swimming pool, a track and field complex, a 100-meter ninja course, and even a sports medicine clinic.
It also includes an amphitheater, small hotel for hosting sports teams, a rooftop restaurant, two day care facilities, and a cultural arts center.
If completed at this capacity, the project could open up over 100 jobs, though how much it will cost to scale is unknown at this time.
“It’s the kind of facility that has never existed in Wilmington,” Philip Brown, board chair of Northside Oasis of Wilmington, said.
NOW founder and concept designer Tracy McCullen — best known for running marathons backwards to raise money for charity — imagined the oasis after identifying a need for safe sports facilities in Northside. Along with principal architect Zena Howard from Perkins & Will, known for designing the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C, the concept design has been in the works for the last several years.
“None of us are developers. None of us are involved in any kind of real estate or anything of that nature. We all have community groups and are interested in the opportunity to bring something transformational,” Brown said.
On Monday, Dec. 2, a community meeting was held at Castle Street’s Sportsman Club where Howard, Brown and McCullen presented the concept to the public and took questions and feedback from attendees. While many in attendance took a liking to the facility, a main point of contention was the project’s funding.
Northside resident deAndré Corniffe raised concerns about its funding at the meeting and claimed an inside source from NOW told him the nonprofit would be requesting money from New Hanover Community Endowment to fund the project. He also showed up to the listening session hosted by the endowment this week speaking out against it.
“They’re proposing to put together a complex that’s going to be valued at more than $300 million,” Corniffe said during public comment at the endowment meeting, though McCullen said a firm number has yet to be concluded.
“That money should not be funded by the endowment, primarily the proceeds from the sale of the hospital,” Corniffe added. “So how would you have citizens come in and say: We don’t think that any of our money should go to nonprofits, such as Optimism Oasis.”
Endowment executive director Dan Winslow said he wants to hear about projects the community supports or not; the endowment relies on its community advisory council to convey feedback to staff and the board. Though he couldn’t speak to Optimism Oasis, Winslow said the endowment looks to be the “last dollars in” when it comes to funding large-scale projects, with proof of concept and investors verified.
Corniffe reiterated his concerns to Port City Daily.
“This is something that’s been in the making for 17 years,” he said. “He [Tracy] didn’t have the money until the endowment was created.”
NOW has requested a small amount from the endowment to pay for a study that would determine if the project is feasible. But McCullen told Port City Daily in a phone interview on Friday there are no plans to apply to the endowment for major capital funding.
“I have no money in savings, in real estate and anything because I’ve spent the last five years of my life putting my savings and countless hours into developing this vision because I’m so deeply passionate about the kids of our community,” McCullen said.
McCullen said he also is talking with large philanthropic donors outside of Wilmington to help fund it, another point he couldn’t speak on currently as it’s in early stages.
Though unsure how much revenue could be brought in from the project, NOW has ideas of how it will be used, but they’re still being worked through.
McCullen added the project would go forward with community support and input. Port City Daily reached out to many others who live in the Northside about Optimism Oasis, but they didn’t want to go on the record.
After being commissioned to design a playground on the Northside 15 years ago and serving as a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern North Carolina for seven years, McCullen’s idea for a sports facility for Northside’s kids was born.
The Boys and Girls Club and Dorothy B. Johnson Pre-K Center backs up to the plot of land that Optimism Oasis would be built on. The design concept plans show a 15,000-square-foot addition to the club, including an upgraded playground, outdoor basketball court, and offices, to be adjacent to the gym and swimming facility.
The land proposed for the facility at 1310 McRae Street was formerly the McRae Street Landfill, which closed in the 1990s. The landfill is classified as pre-regulatory, meaning it was in operation before federal waste management regulations were enacted in 1983.
A study from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1993 concluded there were no high-level contaminants in the land’s groundwater, so in 2004 the landfill was removed from the EPAs Superfund program, which cleans up contaminated land. Though it shouldn’t require any more toxic remediation, the land has never been developed. Future developers would still need to consult the EPA in case unexpected contaminants are unearthed.
McCullen said the project will go beyond serving Northside residents and kids from the Boys and Girls Club by bringing the entire greater Wilmington region into the picture. He envisions educational opportunities like a STEM makerspace and high-tech interactive exhibitions about health to be accessible for students across New Hanover County.
Optimism Oasis would also host both recreational and competitive sporting events, including swimming competitions in the Olympic-sized pools.
“We all know that sports, by default of what it is, is probably, perhaps, the greatest equalizer for people from different backgrounds,” McCullen said.
Brown said the hotel could be a place where competitive sports teams and competition officials could stay. It could also host small group retreats.
Corniffe believes the hotel could attract tourists and new residents who want to stay walking distance from sporting events and nearby shopping, but was dubious how it would impact the neighboring community directly.
“It would only benefit the Black community if we happen to get jobs there making $22 an hour,” he said.
McCullen said he sympathized with the community’s skepticism.
“I’ve spent a lot of time reading and studying the history of the repression and the inequities of the Black community here in Wilmington and it really is a part of my passion,” he said. “I know that they’ve been given a lot of promises that didn’t come through.”
Inclusivity is a big piece of holistic health, according to Brown. He said NOW wants Optimism Oasis to welcome people with “a certain amount of unity” and “who otherwise might not be coming in contact with one another.”
“And at the same time,” he continued, “[be] able to celebrate some of the cultural heritage that exists in our overall community.”
The plot of land is currently home to the “Black Lives Do Matter: End Racism Now” sign that was put up in 2020. The sign’s artist, Janna Robertson, said McCullen had informally reached out to her years ago about the Optimism Oasis and wanted to include the sign in the project, likely in its culture center.
“In terms of Black Lives Matter, they welcomed us with open arms and were happy to include African-American history cultural … and that our art would be displayed prominently somewhere,” Robertson said.
The next steps for Optimism Oasis are for NOW members to secure funding for a proof of concept, and to continue hosting community meetings for input on each step of the project.
“This kind of project can’t happen without significant, significant believership amongst the community,” Brown said. “It’s just impossible.”
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