GARNER -- The legendary white deer that has intrigued folks in this town and beyond has a new resting place.
Visitors at the nature center in a park named for the deer can get a glimpse of the albino doe as they enter. Its stuffed body is on display in a glass enclosure.
White Deer Park on Aversboro Road celebrated its grand opening on Sunday. Garner leaders hope the $4.2 million park will become a regional attraction that could give the town an economic boost.
"I'm comfortable in saying it's part of what defines us as a town," Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams said of the deer.
The white deer has brought lots of attention to Garner. Its story has been one of determination and, at times, controversy.
When residents started seeing the deer around Lake Benson, the town agreed in 2001 to name a new park after it. But days later, it was struck and killed by a pickup truck.
People donated thousands of dollars to stuff the deer and put it in the Storytelling House, which became its home at Lake Benson Park in 2005. Soon after, though, vandals pulled the deer out of the building and set fire to it. Again, residents raised money to repair the damage, and it was returned to the Storytelling House.
Janice Stephenson, who served on the then-Board of Aldermen when the deer was killed, recounted the story during Sunday's celebration. Whenever she tells people she's from Garner, Stephenson said, they immediately mention the white deer.
"I'm fine with it," she said. "We had beauty queens and we had winning football players. But now, it's 'home of the white deer.'"
Learning opportunity
The 96-acre park features more than two miles of walking trails, picnic shelters, playgrounds and a nature center that will host school and other groups.
Teachers will be able to bring students for field trips to learn about wildlife and nature, said Stephanie Moody, who supervises Lake Benson Park and White Deer Park.
On Sunday, visitors got to check out live owls and snakes at the nature center. Michael Adams was in an 8-year-old's paradise.
"I used to hold snakes around my neck," he said. "I'm not scared of them."
His grandmother, Barbara Adams, said she wants her grandson to learn about nature and where things come from.
Nature center visitors will also learn about conserving energy and reducing their carbon footprint. In building the park, felled trees were turned into mulch and placed along the trails, said Steve Raper of Raper & Son, the company that constructed the park. The nature center has a geothermal heating and cooling system, and rainwater collected in cisterns is used to flush the toilets. Most of the materials used throughout the park came from less than 500 miles away.
The U.S. Green Building Council is in the process of deciding whether the nature center will be LEED certified, a title given to environmentally friendly construction.
A draw for Garner
Moody, the park's supervisor, said she wants the nature center to be a place where people can learn about things they can apply in their lives.
The town is counting on the education factor to draw visitors.
"I hope it will bring people to Garner, and I'm pretty confident that it will," said Williams, the mayor. "Hopefully they'll eat a meal in Garner while they're visiting the nature center and the park."
And the white deer.
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The White Deer Park nature center is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon until 5 p.m. on Sunday. The park is open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week. Admission to both is free.
