By Hugh Fisher
hfisher@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó This Saturday, lace up your running shoes and walk, sprint or jog your way down the new stretch of Rogers Lake Road for charity.
Merrifield Partners and the Kellswater development are teaming up with the city of Kannapolis to celebrate the new road linking the city with Kannapolis Parkway.
The Kellswater Mile Fun Run will officially open the new road that links the retail and residential developments with Downtown Kannapolis and the N.C. Research Campus.
The A.L. Brown and Northwest Cabarrus high school marching bands are scheduled to perform. There will be refreshments, door prizes and free T-shirts for the first 300 entrants.
Proceeds from the run will benefit the Cannon Memorial YMCA in Kannapolis and Cabarrus County.
“What we wanted to do is engage the community in this opening, instead of just the traditional ribbon-cutting,” George Kaiser of Merrifield Partners told Kannapolis City Council members at their meeting last week.
Kaiser invited Kannapolis Mayor Bob Misenheimer and council members to join local business leaders at the celebration.
The new road was built through a partnership between Kellswater and the city.
With the opening of the new segment and the renaming and realignment of other area roads, Rogers Lake Road will stretch from Kannapolis Parkway to Dale Earnhardt Boulevard in central Kannapolis.
“This road is the catalyst for a lot of economic development,” Kaiser said.
And the re-formed Rogers Lake Road fits the city’s long-term goal for an east-west corridor to join downtown with new residential and retail developments.
In addition to helping promote the newest route to Interstate 85, the run will highlight the 400-plus-acre Village at Kellswater Bridge, Kaiser said, as well as new developments he expects will be announced Saturday morning.
“We want to make sure that, with the economic growth and development in this area, that Kellswater’s opportunities in this area are well known,” Kaiser said.
Saturday’s run will also benefit charity, with Kellswater making donations to support the YMCA in Cabarrus County.
The YMCA also is making a special offer for early entrants. Those who register online through Wednesday will receive a coupon for a one-month free trial membership at the Cannon Memorial YMCA.
On-site registration for the Kellswater Mile begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, at the new intersection of Kannapolis Parkway and Rogers Lake Road, at Kellswater Bridge.
For more information, go on line to www.kellswater mile.com or phone 704-454-5598.