The prospect of seeing the concrete beginning of Cary’s 22nd park brought out about 90 people to the groundbreaking of Walnut Street Park.

The 11-acre site, fronted by Walnut Street to its north, sits roughly halfway between Southeast Maynard Road and U.S. 1/64.

“It’s great, parks are always nice,” said Dan Steen, who lives near the site.

“There’s good turnout tonight — there’s a lot of interest in this park.”

The master plan for the park calls for preserving about 70 percent of the site’s natural environment. Highlights of the master plan include constructed wetlands with viewing areas, benches, consolidated play areas, picnic areas, a trail network, “a meandering lawn,” pedestrian promenade, rain garden and public-art fixtures.

“It’s not your everyday park,” said Steve Smutko, chair of the town’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board. “We’ve got some things coming in that are original and will fit well in the neighborhood.”

Carol Aupperle, chair of the town’s Public Art Advisory Board, called elements of the park, such as the promenade, an “integrated public-art project.”

The artist, Barbara Grygutis of Tucson, Ariz. had to “synergize” with Raleigh landscape architect Brian Starkey “to stretch infrastructure dollars,” Aupperle said.

Work on the site is expected to start this week.

Construction of the $1.9 million park is expected to take about nine months.

“It’s high time we started focusing on our core in central Cary and I think this park does that,” said Mayor Harold Weinbrecht.

The idea of a park in the neighborhood goes back to at least 2002, when several Town Council members requested town staff look into the possibility of a park in the area. That request was part of a broader effort to revitalize the Walnut Street corridor.

Planning for the park began in March 2005.

The town’s last groundbreaking for a park was in August 2003 for Sears Farm Road Park in west Cary.