50 | April 2018
damaged masonry and other parts of
the park. Much of that has been fixed
or is being fixed now.
But there were much bigger prob-
lems. Some of the steep bluff overlook-
ing Cross Creek near Lamon Street fell
away, taking portions of the trail with
it. Nearby, the bottom was torn off a
30-foot stairway that is part of the trail.
ose issues haven't yet been
repaired but should be in coming
months. Gibson said the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency, which will
pay for much of the repair work, has to
approve all of the plans before any-
thing is done and that has taken time.
Other funding will come from the
Golden LEAF Foundation while the
city will cover the cost of staff time.
Harry Shaw grew up in downtown
Fayetteville next to Cross Creek. e
stream was his playground, providing a
place to fish, catch tadpoles, walk along
and do battle with other youngsters
in the neighborhood. e stream was
a constant element of his life, passing
by his house, his church and later, the
office where he worked.
"I felt a real kinship to that creek,"
he said.
People had long talked about creat-
ing a trail along the creek's path. As an
adult, with experience in business and
civic service, including several terms on
the City Council, Shaw decided to do
what he could to make the idea a reality.
He started by going in with a friend
to buy a bit of land alongside the creek
near what's now Festival Park. Com-
bined with city-owned land, it pro-
vided a nearly seamless path along the
creek between Ray Avenue and Green
Street. Shaw later bought out his friend
and told the city he would give the
land to a nonprofit corporation whose
purpose would be to create a Linear
Park trail.
Over the next dozen years, that cor-
Harry and Claire Shaw
