Close enough

The "Big Man" on Louisburg Road is one of those quirky community icons that are part advertising kitsch and part handy landmark for giving directions.

Now the Big Man may be pointing the way to a workable solution to the question of where to put additional recreational facilities in northeast Raleigh.

Developers with plans for a residential, office and retail project on the 260 acres where the fiberglass giant now stands near the intersection of U.S. 401 and the future I-540 say they are willing to provide land for a community center and athletic facilities. They are also working with the school board to locate River Bend Elementary School on the site. Obviously, having a new school and community center in the neighborhood they're trying to sell could be a marketing bonanza for the developers.

It could also benefit the residents of northeast Raleigh and be the reprieve that supporters of Horseshoe Farm Park and environmentalists have been seeking. City officials need to give the offer serious consideration.

City park officials have said the 146 acres at Horseshoe Farm Park would be a good location for new recreation and athletic facilities in the area. There has been even stronger sentiment to keep the land as natural as possible with open land, boat ramps and a nature center.

An alternative plan to put the badly needed new facilities at nearby Durant Park has run into a possible roadblock. Federal and state grants were used to develop Durant, and any plans to alter it now could require complicated federal and state approvals.

The council should look closely at this latest alternative. At first blush, a well-developed community center with athletic facilities on free land a mile from Horseshoe Farm Park has the earmarks of a win-win deal. Too bad the Big Man has to go.