Cumming seeks bids to build Castleberry parking lot near fairgrounds

Castleberry Road could get another layer of relief as Cumming moves to build a new parking lot near the fairgrounds, a corridor that already handles festival traffic, parade crowds and thousands of hospital employees shuttling in and out.

The city is requesting proposals for the project titled “Construction of Castleberry Parking Lot (Demolition included),” with bids due June 11, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. EST. The job appears on the city’s current bid and RFP list alongside other active work, including a Cumming Fairgrounds bathroom building, showing that municipal investment around the grounds is continuing to build out the site.

The fairgrounds has been a central gathering place since 1995 and remains one of Cumming’s busiest public venues. City materials say it hosts the annual Cumming Country Fair & Festival, concerts, rodeos, antique car shows and Fridays at the Fairgrounds food-truck events, all of which put pressure on parking and access along Castleberry Road and nearby streets.

That pressure has extended beyond entertainment. Northside Hospital Forsyth shifted employee parking to the Cumming Fairgrounds during its expansion, with about 4,600 employees told to leave their cars there and take shuttles to the campus. Northside’s $80 million expansion is expected to run through fall 2026, meaning the fairgrounds lot has become part of the county’s wider traffic network, not just an event-day convenience.

The corridor also carries some of the city’s most visible civic traffic. The Cumming Christmas Parade starts at Forsyth Central High School and moves down Tribble Gap Road and Castleberry Road to the Cumming Fairgrounds, tying the same route to both neighborhood access and major city events. Any changes to parking on that stretch will affect more than fairgoers alone.

For residents and businesses near the fairgrounds, the lot project signals that Cumming is trying to manage recurring congestion by shifting more vehicles off the street and onto city-controlled ground. With the bid deadline set for June 11, the next step will determine how quickly work can begin and how much additional parking capacity the city can add to one of Forsyth County’s most heavily used event corridors.