For nearly 100 years, the Durham Athletic Park, the well-known setting of the movie "Bull Durham," has been a dominant fixture in downtown Durham. It was for years home of the Durham Bulls and N.C. Central's baseball team.

• But with the Bulls no longer using the stadium and N.C. Central's team discontinued in 2021, the DAP is used sparingly these days for events like youth baseball and occasionally a concert.

Why it matters: The Durham Athletic Park, which dates back to 1926, now occupies a much different city center than before. The area around the park has grown tremendously and will soon be home to hundreds of new residents in the coming years.

Driving the news: The City of Durham wants to produce a new vision for what the DAP could be for the public. It hired the architecture firm Perkins & Will to publish a study next year about the park's future usage.

The big picture: Much like Raleigh, Durham has been contemplating what is next for its downtown, which has seen a population boom over the past decade but was also impacted by the pandemic emptying office buildings.

• Discover Durham, the city's tourism agency, has called for investing in new amenities for downtown, like a new convention center. In its most recent master plan, the agency floats the idea of making the DAP a multi-use facility and considering using those upgrades to make it an amphitheater for concerts.
• Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams told Axios he would love to see the park used more often as a venue for N.C. Central and community sports leagues. He also said he believes it can be a great multi-use venue for concerts and festivals.

Go deeper

Bacon ice cream, orange creamsicle slushie, candied Oreo cakesters. Only at the North Carolina State Fair can you have these all in one place.

Driving the news: The N.C. State Fair runs from Oct. 17-27. And this year there are 73 new foods to try from more than 30 different vendors.

My thought bubble: This year's list of new dishes is on another level with ridiculous combos like deep-fried baby back ribs, battered bologna fries, hot Cheetos funnel cake and deep-fried spaghetti.

Here are the 5 weird (but delicious) new foods to try:

1. Battered bologna fries from Granny's Country Kitchen

• This savory snack item can also be loaded with chili cheese sauce.

2. Strawberry lemonade donut from Fluffy's Hand Cut Donuts

• This doughnut is topped with tangy lemon frosting, strawberry lemonade crumbles, freeze-dried strawberry slices and gummy candy.

3. Granny cone from Magdelena's Chimney Cakes

• This Hungarian dessert is a chimney cake filled with a scoop of buttery cream cake, layered with maple bacon ice cream, topped with crunchies and whipped cream.

4. Deep-fried ribs from Lawrence & Perry BBQ

5. Honey butter mozza dog from GoldenKdog

Keep reading for more details

🚗 A pilot program starting in November will give visitors two hours of free parking in five city-owned parking garages in downtown Raleigh. (CBS17)

🏗️ The $1 billion Heritage Square development planned for downtown Durham has been delayed due to challenges and costs associated with building parking underground on the site and the need to file a new rezoning request. (Triangle Business Journal 🔒)

• The project, at 606 Fayetteville St., initially planned to add an apartment tower and lab building on the site of a former strip mall.

💸 In the last four years, state lawmakers gave $2.3 billion of taxpayer money to hundreds of organizations without a competitive process or public hearings. (The Assembly)

🎮 How Fortnite turned Epic Games from a medium-sized video game studio into one of the world's most valuable private companies. (News & Observer 🔒)

🎓 Campbell University, located 28 miles south of Raleigh, will cut its athletic department's budget to stabilize its finances. (WRAL)

Prolific restaurateur Giorgios Bakatsias is opening another restaurant — this time in the former Ko.an space in Cary.

The latest: Giorgios Hospitality Group said Wednesday it will open the Greek-inspired Naos Hellenic Cuisine later this year.

• The opening will come just weeks after the group opened its most recent business in Raleigh, the European-inspired Giorgios Epicurean Market.

Details: Naos' menu will be curated by Kevin Draper of Bin 54 in Chapel Hill and Alex Ricci, previously the head of Prospects Craft Kitchen in Raleigh, which closed this summer.

• The Giorgios Group described the menu as combining ancient Greek traditions with modern cooking styles. It will include a rotating cast of vegetable-focused small plates and a focus on fresh seafood, lamb and slow-braised dishes cooked in traditional clay pots.

Zoom in: Naos will take over a 10,000-square-foot space at 2800 Renaissance Park Place in Cary, previously home to the upscale Asian eatery Ko.an, which closed last year.

Y'all, it finally feels like football weather. Before we do a fit check, let's check the college football schedules.

Editor's note: This does not include every school. Games are on Oct. 19 unless otherwise noted.

😈 Duke (5-1) hosts Florida State (1-5) on Oct. 18 at 7pm. on ESPN2.

🎩 Wake Forest (2-4) plays at Connecticut (4-2) at noon on the CBS Sports Network.

🐺 N.C. State (3-4) plays at California (3-3) at 3:30pm on the ACC Network.

🐶 N.C. A&T (1-5) host Hampton (3-3) at 1pm on FloSports.

🏴‍☠️ East Carolina (3-3) plays at No. 23 Army (6-0) at noon on ESPN2.