Greer Park: Restoring, Revitalizing and Renewing

Our Community feature by Sheila Turner-Hilliard

Photos courtesy of Wade Pollock

Newtown Square residents will soon be able to enjoy a beautiful, vibrant, revitalized community park with open space and amenities for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

Greer Park, located on Winding Way in the St. Albans section of Newtown Square, is getting a long-overdue makeover that will not only be aesthetically pleasing, but will also benefit the environment and wildlife. This 6-acre parcel of land has a fascinating history and is the first of our public parks to undergo extensive renovations. For over two years, Newtown Township’s Board of Supervisors has worked with a select Steering Committee, to determine the best way to address and remedy a long list of growing environmental concerns. At the top of that list: What to do with the silt-filled pond and eroding stream.

Sometimes, the only way to move forward is to take a few steps back. In this case, we need to step all the way back to the late 1800s when the stream, known as Foxes Run, flowed freely through the property and into Darby Creek. At the time, the land was owned by The Pennsylvania Hospital, which had established multiple farms throughout our area. The hospital needed easier access to water, so Foxes Run was dammed, creating the pond as we know it today. Then in 1946, the hospital privately sold the farmlands, but not before deeding a 6-acre portion to Newtown Township for public use.

Existing pond in need of repair

Seven decades later, the time has come to make changes and restore Foxes Run to its original course. In the fall of 2018, the Township applied for and received grant funding from Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development and the Department of Conservation of Natural Resources to write a master plan that would address the environmental issues as well as improve resident usability and accessibility.

The Steering Committee outlined four main goals: Determine the best option for the pond; Develop permeable (eco-friendly) walking paths and trails; Define the best play equipment options; and Develop recreational opportunities for all ages and abilities.

Wade Pollock, a retired Business Analyst with Boeing and a St. Albans area resident, led the Steering Committee. Together with neighboring residents and representatives from Newtown Township’s Environmental Advisory Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee and Newtown Square in Bloom, the team developed solid concept plans that not only satisfied their original goals but also included new state-of-the-art amenities.

Wade is proud of the committee’s hard work.

This project will serve as an extreme benefit to the environment,” Wade said, “and it will also provide our neighbors with safe places to walk and appreciate nature.

Concept of new Greer Park layout

Visitors to Greer Park will enjoy new, eco-friendly walking paths, open water features and fishing opportunities. More access points to the stream will be added for little ones to explore, and two age-appropriate playgrounds with adaptive equipment will be installed along with free play areas and a lawn volleyball court.

Friends and families who want to gather safely will be able to choose from three covered pavilions and plenty of surrounding open space. And those folks who hold this park and the pond close to their hearts will be happy to know that the pond will not be completely filled in. Instead, the dam will be removed, and water will flow freely through the pond continuing downstream to Darby Creek, the way nature had always intended.