Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds has been “gifted” an area of the city for his birthday – with plans in place to transform it into a park in his honour.
Reynolds received the special 47th birthday gift in Wrexham city centre from the club’s co-owner Rob McElhenney.
A video in the style of US sitcom Parks and Recreation was released to coincide with the announcement and featured McElhenney and Hollywood star Chris Pratt, who played Andy Dwyer in the show.
The website for Parks & Wrex – which reveals plans to develop the former theatre site into a community space – said the Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park at the heart of Wrexham would be a place for the public “to gather, grow and play” when it’s finished.
It said the park would be “a reflection of the spirit of Wrexham and Wales“.
The website also encourages people to “visit some of the wonderful businesses” in the city centre.
It said the park would be renamed “probably something Welsh, not Canadian”.
Designs for the proposed park. Pic: Wrexham Council
Pic: Wrexham Council
Reynolds and McElhenney bought the North Wales-based football club in 2020.
Its story has been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome to Wrexham.
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Wrexham council leader, Councillor Mark Pritchard, said after the council purchased the former Hippodrome site last year, it has had “exactly the same ambition as Rob to bring the space back into use as some sort of community park”.
“Rob’s vision fits so well with our placemaking ambitions for the city centre and the early proposals for developing it into pop-up space for our community and attracting visitors to this part of town is really intriguing,” he said.
“The added bonus of having Rob and Ryan involved in the regeneration of the site with a few quirky ideas which only they can do is fantastic and we’ll really look forward to working together as their plans develop.”
If plans are approved by Wrexham Council once formally submitted, the Ryan Rodney Reynolds Memorial Park will be redeveloped and maintained by McElhenney and Reynolds.
