On the evening of July 31, hundreds of people showed up at 113 Town Hall Drive with lawn chairs and blankets, some of them waiting for a park that had been promised to them since 2023. Members of American Legion John E. Jacobs Post 68, VFW Post 12196, and the North Brunswick High School JROTC opened the night with a Presentation of Colors. Local churches and small businesses ran information booths. Vendors served food. Then The Embers, featuring Craig Woolard, took the stage, and Founders Park was, at last, officially open.
If you live in Leland, you have probably already heard the broad strokes. What matters now is what actually opened, what's happening there this month, and how to get in and out without spending your evening looking for a parking spot.
The Park Leland Was Missing
Leland has grown almost entirely through master-planned communities. Brunswick Forest has its own clubhouse and pool deck. Waterford has its riverside amenities. Mallory Creek, Magnolia Greens, and a dozen other subdivisions each built a private version of a gathering space behind their own gates. That model works fine if you live inside one of those communities. It leaves out everyone else, and it means the town itself, the older core around Town Hall Drive, never had a shared outdoor room that belonged to all of Leland rather than one HOA.
Founders Park closes that gap. It sits in what officials describe as the original part of town, and it is built to be used by residents regardless of which subdivision they call home. Barnes Sutton, Leland's economic and community development director, put it plainly when the park reopened:
"The whole idea was to create something in the original part of Leland that is accessible for everyone and has something for everyone."
Herman Bland, pastor of Kingdom Believers Outreach, made a similar point about the opening night crowd, noting that the vendors represented every corner of the community, from churches to small businesses, and that the mix of people is what made the evening feel like something worth celebrating.
Why It Took Nearly Two Years Longer Than Planned
The park's backstory explains why its opening felt like an event rather than a routine ribbon-cutting. Construction began in late 2023 with a target completion of late 2024. Town officials later identified an alignment issue with the amphitheater itself and raised concerns about the quality of some of the original contractor's work, which pushed the timeline back. The park partially reopened in December 2025 during the town's annual Leland in Lights holiday event, giving residents an early look at the walking paths and other finished amenities. The splash pad followed in spring 2026. The amphitheater, the project's final and most delayed piece, was the last thing to open, arriving with the July 31 grand opening, nearly two years past the original target.
The finished park now includes that amphitheater, the splash pad, walking paths, a playground, and a Veterans Memorial. The memorial carries a tribute stone honoring U.S. Army Specialist 4 John E. Jacobs, who was killed in action in Vietnam in October 1968 and is the namesake of the American Legion post that presented colors on opening night. It is a detail that gives the park a layer most new amenities don't have: it is not just new, it is tied to people who came from this specific stretch of Brunswick County.
The Lineup Residents Are Actually Turning Out For
The park's completion also launched Live in Leland, the town's first ongoing concert and entertainment series, running through September at the new amphitheater. Every show is free, runs from 6 to 8 p.m., and includes food trucks, yard games, and a beer garden pouring from two local names: Leland Brewing Company and Brunswick Beer and Cider.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| July 31 | Founders Park Grand Opening, featuring The Embers with Craig Woolard |
| Aug. 13 | Departure: The Journey Tribute Band |
| Aug. 21 | Aesop's Fables, presented by the Brunswick Arts Council |
| Aug. 27 | The British Invaders |
| Sept. 3 | Dear MariBella and the Pig Kickers |
The Aug. 13 show already drew a crowd large enough that the town's own social media described the lawn as filled with neighbors and families singing along, and the Aug. 21 performance shifts the format entirely, trading a band for a theatrical children's program from the Brunswick Arts Council. That range, arena-rock cover band one week, a fable performed for kids the next, is a decent signal of what the town is trying to build: not a single-genre concert series, but a recurring reason for different kinds of residents to show up on the same lawn.
What to Know Before You Go
Founders Park's on-site lot is limited, and the town has been upfront about it ahead of each show. A few things worth knowing if you're planning to catch one of the remaining August or September dates:
- Overflow parking is available at First Baptist Church, 517 Village Road, and North Brunswick High School, 114 Scorpion Drive, both connected to the park by multi-use paths.
- An accessible shuttle runs between North Brunswick High School and the park, generally from around 5 p.m. until roughly 9:30 p.m. on show nights.
- Bring a lawn chair or blanket, water, sunscreen, and bug spray. Coolers are allowed, but outside alcohol is not, since the beer garden requires guests to be 21 and older.
- Splash pad and playground access run alongside the concerts, so families with younger kids have somewhere to go if the show itself isn't holding their attention.
As of Aug. 14, the town also added two dual-port Level 2 EV charging stations at Founders Park, a small addition but one more sign that this location is meant to be a long-term fixture rather than a one-season attraction.
The Calendar Doesn't Stop at Founders Park
Live in Leland runs into September, but the late-summer calendar around town extends past the amphitheater. On Sept. 12, the Feast of the Pirates Festival takes over Belville Riverwalk Park just across the way, a long-running family event with pirate-themed activities put on by the Wilmington Harbor Enhancement Trust. It's an easy pairing with a Leland weekend, close enough to treat as a second stop rather than a separate trip.
Back in Leland, the town has scheduled Lend a Hand Leland for Saturday, Oct. 3, a community-wide morning of service with volunteer projects starting at Founders Park at 8 a.m. before groups head out to project sites around town at 9. It closes out the park's debut season with the same idea that opened it: a shared space that belongs to everyone in Leland, not just the neighborhood you happen to live in.
For years, the Leland Cultural Arts Center on Magnolia Village Way was the closest thing the town had to a shared indoor gathering spot. Founders Park is the outdoor counterpart that took much longer to arrive, but based on the crowd at the first two shows, residents were ready for it the moment it opened.
If you're weighing what a place like Leland actually offers day to day, beyond the subdivision brochures, moments like this are the real answer. And if you're curious what a home in this part of Brunswick County is worth given everything the town has added this year, the team at Living By The Coast Realty Group can put together a free home valuation whenever you're ready to look.
