Chapel Hill, April 1 – 2026
After months of rumors, debate and public meetings, the University of North Carolina has made a complete—and unexpected—pivot on its plans for Carolina North, the giant, largely wooded tract of land 2 miles north of the campus.
Instead of a thriving, multi-use hub with housing, tennis courts, businesses, or a new UNC basketball arena, the blueprints shared today in an exclusive interview with TBB feature a water park occupying three football fields worth of foamy, floaty fun.
“We heard you all. We saw the petition. Our plans have gotten folks worked up” said Slade McWithers III, UNC deputy provost for community relations. “We looked at what we could do, and determined that everyone loves a good water park. Who could be upset about that?”
The draft blueprint that Triangle Blog Blog has exclusively obtained includes the following features:
- A long, 2.25 mile “Lazy River” circling the property in the current location of the beloved “Pumpkin Loop”
- A state-of-the-art “Wave Pool” near the eastern edge of the property
- A large children’s splash pond, replacing the current pond, with fountains and toddler-scale water sluices.
- A challenging, banked track for gas-powered go-karts occupying the west end of the Old Horace Williams Airport’s main runway.
A handful of trees will be retained to “maintain the character of the current land-use”
“The Lazy River feature will follow the course of the existing Pumpkin Loop since, fortunately, it has already been cleared of trees,” said UNC Real Estate Manager Betsy Worther-Calhoun. “We will still need to do significant excavation, though, since a Lazy River needs to be level to operate safely.”
State officials were initially aghast when confronted with the blueprints but are coming around.
“We didn’t like the sound of this idea at all,” said Harlan Crumpler, chair of the State Water Resources Commission. “But I visited the site again with my grandkids and they got really excited. So I’m squarely on the fence.”
Most community groups declined to comment on the plans without first retaining a lawyer and a consultant. But a runner in Carolina North, “Grunty,” said he’s extremely disappointed by the plans. “My buddies and I have deep emotional ties to Carolina North. We’ve been peeing on these trees since 1966.”
Grunty, a member of the Trailheads, Chapel Hill’s infamous secret society of trail runners, declined to give his legal name. “My wife thinks I’m at a bar right now.”
