For most of the past two and a half years, the fenced-off block at 113 Town Hall Drive was Leland's most visible construction project and its most persistent inside joke. Locals watched the amphitheater walls go up, come partly back down, and go up again. The splash pad opened in the spring. The playground came online around the December 2025 Leland in Lights illumination. The lawn and paths followed. What kept slipping was the piece the whole design pointed toward.
That piece finally opened on Friday, July 31, 2026. Mayor Brenda Bozeman cut the ribbon in front of the new amphitheater at 5:30 p.m., The Embers featuring Craig Woolard played from six to eight, and a park that had been "almost open" for months became the town's actual center of gravity.
The night the amphitheater finally opened
The grand opening drew a bigger crowd than a standard Sounds of Summer stop for a specific reason. WECT's Sounds of Summer had been a Wrightsville Beach Town Park fixture for 26 years. This year, Leland got the only date on the schedule. That is a small fact with a large implication for how the amphitheater will be programmed in seasons to come.
The ceremony itself was locally sourced in a way that read intentional rather than dutiful. The North Brunswick High School JROTC handled the color guard under Sergeant First Class William C. Bass and retired Army Captain George L. King Jr. Craig Willard sang the National Anthem. Members of Leland VFW Post 12196 and American Legion Post 68 stood beside the mayor. The park's veterans memorial is not a plaque set off to the side. It is one of the reasons the ribbon cutting happened in the order it did.
What's actually at 113 Town Hall Drive now
The renovation totaled roughly $7.8 million and rebuilt the park around a set of amenities the old Leland Municipal Park did not have.
| Amenity | What's new |
|---|---|
| Amphitheater and event lawn | Purpose-built performance venue, home of the new Live in Leland series |
| Splash pad | Opened spring 2026, first municipal splash pad on this side of the river |
| Inclusive playground | Replaces the previous playground, designed for mixed-ability use |
| Veterans memorial | Central to the site plan, not tucked at the perimeter |
| Fitness stations and natural play area | Along the walking loop |
| Picnic shelter | Replaces the informal shade the old park lacked |
| Walking paths | Multi-use paths that connect to overflow lots at First Baptist Church at 517 Village Road and North Brunswick High School at 114 Scorpion Drive |
That last detail is worth pausing on. Parking at Founders Park is limited by design. The town leaned into pedestrian access from two existing lots rather than pave more of the block. If you have been to the park since it fully opened and wondered why the lot filled so fast, that is the answer.
The beer garden was the tell
The most quietly consequential thing about opening night was the beer garden. It was the first ever at a Leland town event, restricted to patrons 21 and older, with outside alcohol prohibited. The two pours came from Leland Brewing and Brunswick Beer and Cider, both walking-distance neighbors of the park in the broader downtown-adjacent grid.
That is a signal about what this venue is for. The town could have staged a generic municipal opening with a canned soda tent. Instead, the beer garden slotted two local operators into the park's inaugural night, which telegraphs how future events, weddings, and rentals will likely be structured.
Food trucks on opening night were pulled from the same short list of names Leland residents already know from smaller events around town:
- Glizzies on the Go
- Hanna's Hawaiian Ice
- Taste N Seize
- Seaview Crab Company
- Old South Pretzel Company
If you were at the Wednesday markets or last year's Leland in Lights, you have eaten at three of these already. They are not touring vendors. They are the vendor bench Leland has built.
What runs through fall
Opening night was not a one-off. The Embers concert launched the town's first Live in Leland series, which continues through September with a mix of concerts and a theatrical performance. The full schedule sits on the town's site at townofleland.com, and the Leland Cultural Arts Center at 1212 Magnolia Village Way handles ticketing for the paid dates.
After the concert series wraps, the calendar hands off to the Leland Fall Festival on Saturday, October 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. That one is not at Founders Park. It moves to Northwest District Park at 1937 Andrew Jackson Hwy, free, kids in costume, trick-or-treating along a pumpkin trail of decorated booths, pumpkin painting, face painting, and yard games. Pets, alcohol, and tobacco or vape products are not permitted. Parking is on site. The dual-park pattern, amphitheater programming through September and family programming out at Northwest in October, is likely the shape of the fall calendar going forward.
Meanwhile, at the roundabout
While Founders Park was becoming a town center, Leland Town Center a few miles up US 17 was quietly filling in its last big gap. Texas Roadhouse received site plan approval from town staff on April 9, 2026 after four rounds of revisions. The plan is for a 7,926-square-foot restaurant with 152 parking spaces, sited near the roundabout at Gateway Boulevard and Ploof Road. It will be the chain's first Brunswick County location and the second in the Wilmington area, joining the existing store at 230 Eastwood Road.
No firm opening date has been shared. The company told the StarNews earlier this year that they were excited to join Leland but did not have dates to announce. What the approval does confirm is the shape of the corner going forward. Texas Roadhouse joins Al's Burger Shack, Eggs Up Grill, and Lowe's Home Improvement at the center, with an O2 Fitness still expected. If you live in Waterford, Brunswick Forest, or Magnolia Greens, that is one more reason your Saturday errand loop stays on the west side of the bridge.
Why this matters for a Tuesday night
For years, the honest answer to "where do people gather in Leland?" was "nowhere in particular, and mostly by car." The Cultural Arts Center hosts classes and small performances. Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville draws a weekend crowd. Otherwise, community life happened in parking lots, church halls, and the two local breweries. Founders Park closes that gap. It gives the town a walkable civic anchor with a stage, a lawn, a shelter, and a splash pad on the same block.
That changes the practical calculus of living here in ways that will not show up on a listing but will show up in your week. A Friday concert you can walk or bike to from the neighborhoods off Village Road. A summer weeknight where the kids run through the splash pad while you sit on a bench near the veterans memorial. A place to bring out-of-town family that answers the "what is there to do?" question with something other than a drive to Wrightsville. That is what a park like this actually does. It shortens the trip.
If you are thinking about a move within Leland, or into it, and you want to talk through what this shift means for specific streets and neighborhoods, Anna Sillery is happy to walk through it with you. Schedule a consultation and bring your questions about the pockets closest to Town Hall Drive, the ones best served by the multi-use paths, and where the calendar is likely to matter most.
