As a critical link in Asheville's 17-mile Wilma Dykeman Greenway, Karen Cragnolin Park remediates a former junkyard on the banks of the French Broad River and restores it as public greenway parkland. Named in honor of Karen Cragnolin, RiverLink's founding executive director, the park builds on decades of environmental recovery and community advocacy along this storied river corridor.
The site lies within a river corridor shaped by deep geological history, Indigenous presence, and Asheville's evolving mix of industry, arts, and outdoor life. Remediated through the EPA's Brownfields Program, the site now takes its place among a growing constellation of parks and trails along the French Broad, bringing forward the ecological and cultural stories held in the land.
NBW developed a phased master plan and an interpretive strategy rooted in the site's natural cycles and histories. Colors draw from local prairie blooms, and forms echo the river's sinuous movement. Along a meandering greenway path, interpretive elements introduce visitors to Indigenous lifeways, the site's industrial legacy, and ongoing ecological renewal. Future phases will add an educational pavilion, universal river access, pollinator gardens, and additional community amenities.
Karen Cragnolin Park demonstrates how remediated land can become generative — a place where ecological recovery, cultural memory, and public life converge along a river that Asheville has spent decades learning to love again.
