Universal Park’s Turn toward Community Recreation Hub
Background
Located at 632 College Drive in Marion, NC, represents a successful adaptive reuse of industrial and public property into a community recreation asset. Situated immediately adjacent to the McDowell Technical Community College campus and the county's Universal Advanced Manufacturing Center, the park surrounds the scenic Taylor's Lake area behind the educational complex.
The property was originally developed and operated as a major manufacturing facility for Universal Furniture Company, which served for decades as a primary industrial employer in McDowell County alongside East Marion’s textiles and timber mills.Taylor’s Lake originally functioned as an industrial mill pond and reservoir serving the plant’s furniture manufacturing and finishing operations.
In early 2001, amid widespread restructuring and offshoring across the Western North Carolina furniture industry, Universal Furniture closed the Marion production plant, shuttering the massive facility and leaving the surrounding acreage dormant.
Recognizing the strategic value, McDowell County stepped in to acquire the property and its surrounding land out of private industrial holding. Backed by private grant funding and economic development incentives, the county undertook an adaptive reuse project.
McDowell County opened access around Taylor's Lake for fishing, walking, and passive park use, creating the civic foundation for the McDowell Trails Association to step in and design the property into a unified, 300+ acre county park.
Current status
The park's current standout recreational feature, its disc golf course, was developed and opened in 2020–2021. The course was created in partnership with and sponsored by McDowell County Early College, turning the rugged woodland and lake frontage behind the school facilities into an active recreational asset for students and the general public.
The 18-hole, par-60 layout measuring roughly 4,840 feet is known among players as a heavily wooded, technically demanding, and hilly course that incorporates natural elevation changes, tight fairways and water hazards around the lake.
In addition to disc golf, the property features walking trail access, picnic areas and bank fishing opportunities around Taylor's Lake.