Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Michael Stokes stands in the top of a red barn that was built from a Sears kit located in Falling Creek Park. Stokes hopes to turn the barn into a gathering place for the community.

Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Finishing touches are being put on Falling Creek Park, the first of four parks planned in Bedford County. Along with playground equipment visitors can find trails for biking and hiking, LifeTrail outdoor fitness stations and shuffleboard.

The first Bedford County public park officially opens next month.

The fast-growing county between Roanoke and Lynchburg has long had a youth sports program, but it is taking steps to develop a county park system, including updating its long-range parks plan for the first time in 14 years.

Falling Creek Park just outside Bedford already is busy -- it will host a mountain bike race Saturday -- and features hiking trails, playground equipment and picnic shelters. Its restrooms still have to be finished.

Two other parks are in various stages of development in Moneta and Montvale. A fourth park is planned for New London.

"In the past, by necessity, the program was focused on [playing] fields," said County Administrator Kathleen Guzi. "This is really the most exciting time as far as parks and rec goes."

Michael Stokes is leading the charge. He's the director of parks and recreation, hired four years ago from Wrightsville Beach, N.C. He's been in the parks and recreation business for 30 years.

Bedford County is home to a state park at Smith Mountain Lake, to a National Park Service operation at the Peaks of Otter and to national forest land. But it lacks its own network of county parks.

"I think the county is concerned," Stokes said. "It wants to meet the leisure needs of their residents."

Working with the 10 individual recreation associations that serve the county's youth, Stokes is shifting the focus to maintaining the youth sports program while developing the park sites, three of which were acquired before he was hired.

Stokes received a graduate degree in park planning and design from the University of Georgia.

"The buzzword in the field is multigenerational," he said. "We want to design areas, sports, games and facilities for all abilities as well as all ages."

Stokes wants to offer a range of activities that people of all ages can enjoy, from sitting on a park bench enjoying nature to riding mountain biking trails.

It's a philosophy that neighboring Roanoke County, which has a much more developed parks system, has embraced in its most recent parks master plan.

A unique feature at Bedford County's Falling Creek Park is the LifeTrail system -- exercise stations for adults older than 50. The 10 stations, which are set up around the park's paved track, feature exercises that target different areas of the body combined with walking.

While developing parks marks one major goal, finding more indoor space presents another challenge. Many Bedford County senior citizens play bingo three times a month and participate in weekly bus trips coordinated by the parks and recreation department.

Stokes said he would like to involve older residents in additional programs, but he lacks enough indoor meeting spaces.

For years, the county has looked at ways to renovate The Red Barn, which sits adjacent to Falling Creek Park and the county's old nursing home. The old barn, constructed from a Sears, Roebuck & Co. home kit, needs major renovations and repairs. According to thebarnjournal.org, the kit cost $538 in 1911 and contained the materials to build a 36-by-46-foot bilevel barn with a gambrel roof.

Stokes is seeking assistance from Virginia Tech's Community Design Assistance Center of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies to determine how to best use the facility. He envisions a space the community can use, possibly with a catering kitchen and a deck overlooking the park, which could be used for wedding receptions or other special events.

Stokes also would like to see the parks and recreation department move its offices to the county's old nursing home. According to Guzi, that was the original plan, but the board of supervisors asked county officials to review the facility to determine its best use. Guzi said her staff is planning to report to the board in the fall.

Stokes also is working with Assistant County Administrator Frank Rogers to develop a request for proposals to revise the county's master recreational plan, which was last updated in 1993.

The request must be approved by the county board of supervisors before it can be issued. Stokes said funds carried over from last year's recreation budget will be used to finance the study.

"It will give us more detailed direction for what is needed in the county," Stokes said.

"I really want it to tailor to the particular needs of Bedford County and the citizens."

In general, the plan will explore the needs of the parks, open space, indoor facilities and departmental staffing to guide the county's recreational programs' needs through 2020.

Although Falling Creek is not officially open, the park is being used.

Saturday, the annual Virginia DeRailer Series mountain bike race will take place; it is the fifth year Falling Creek Park has hosted the event. This year, racers will face an expanded trail system that winds through a wooded area of the park.

"More of the trails in the wooded area are more challenging than the open meadows we began with," Stokes said.

Approximately 100 cyclists are expected to participate.

Stokes also is trying to preserve the park's natural habitats. At Falling Creek, about 30 bluebird houses were erected. He walks through the park, checking the boxes for eggs, babies or empty nests and reports the data to the Virginia Bluebird Society.

"I'm out exercising but doing something I enjoy," he said. "Off the clock, of course."