When: Marietta Borough Council meeting, Dec. 8.
What happened: Marietta Borough Council approved a comprehensive master plan for three parks. Penncast Tot Lot, Front Street Park and Chestnut Street Park will be improved and expanded upon in the coming year. The president of YSM Landscape Architects, Ann Yost, is the leading planning consultant for this project.
Improvements: Penncast will continue to serve young children with added playground space but will expand to meet the needs of senior citizens with added walkway, sitting and shaded areas. The goals for Front Street Park are to continue the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail and to add two small pavilions, benches, grills, lawn games and a restroom. Improvements for Chestnut Street Park include exercise equipment, a paddle-craft launch site and lawn areas to serve as campgrounds with lockers and picnic tables.
Costs: The total cost of this comprehensive plan is $1.175 million. Rough estimates for these parks are $600,000 for Front Street Park, $325,000 for the Penncast Tot Lot, and $250,000 for Chestnut Street Park.
Quotable: “All of these master plans are very fundable from a state funding perspective. They hit a lot of hot buttons that the state likes to fund, in terms of recreation projects,” Yost said.
What’s next: The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources would like the borough to put a phasing plan in place. Then whichever park receives the most state funding will likely be the first park to begin construction.
