Honesdale Borough Council has approved the design for a new park. Here are the plans

Honesdale Borough Council on June 24 approved a design for a new park for the first block of 12th Street, from the Main Street bridge to Church Street. As designed, traffic would continue one-way, one-lane only, giving room for a shady place to relax and enjoy the Lackawaxen River or continue a walk alongside the river on a path now under construction by the county.

The resolution for the "12th Street connector park" approved by the council is meant to support further grants needed for Greater Honesdale Partnership (GHP) to build the park and authorizes GHP oversight responsibility and requires accountability to the borough. Jayson Wood of Woodland Design Associates presented the plans to the council that evening.

Brian Wilken of the GHP board hailed this as an inviting northern "gateway" to downtown. It is related to the current Main Street revitalization program emphasizing public safety and aesthetics.

Wood said his firm has worked with GHP for over a year developing designs. The draft, approved by the council, shows this section of 12th Street limiting traffic westbound only, from Church to Main Streets, in the lane closest to the sidewalk and buildings. The other lane, alongside the riverbank, will become a park.

"We tried and figure out what is a good scale of space to try and allow people to gather, have benches for people to watch the river and just have a nice place to be." Wood said. "It would benefit... restaurants; you grab a bite to eat or something from one of our great shops in our town and you can just pop over to that public space and just enjoy that view, enjoy a moment of sunshine."

Wilken added, "What we are creating in town is a river walk. It is something like this type of investment that will bring people to town."

He said people can walk along the Lackawaxen from the former Stourbridge school on West Park Street (Park Street Complex) to the 12th Street park and connect with the separate park the county is building down the street at the former Industrial Point, to be renamed Sycamore Point.

The design permits this 12th Street section to be closed to traffic for street fairs and other events. Retractable bollard posts can be raised to shut down the street.

"Not just for tourists but it is a great thing for people who live here to enjoy the river and my vision is it's the lynchpin that helps bring people here with their business, with their family to live here, to be here," Wilken continued.

"We need younger people here. We need families here. We need people to invest here," Wilken said. "You travel across America, you see towns and rivers, they are using the river as an attracting point in town."

Wood noted that currently the riverbanks on both sides are overgrown with Japanese knotweed. On the Park Street side there are a couple of benches. Overall, he said, people drive through what he called "a forgotten space."

The design also removes the parallel parking spots to add space for the park. A short retaining wall will be added, with a gentle slope to the water. Along the river there is a floodplain regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where structures cannot be built.

Five diagonal parking spaces are planned on the park side, one being handicapped accessible. Other components are a water station, benches, and lighting.

Room is given for vehicles to pull over for emergency vehicles.

Rather than a lawn, the design proposes decoratively banded concrete where people can gather, with appropriate shade trees on both sides of the street, Wilken said.

Wood stated that the materials planned for the park surface are durable, and trees selected will require minimal maintenance. Councilor James Hamill suggested that GHP may want to "adopt" the section to pick litter.

The design shows the "bump out" at the end of 12th Street by the Main Street bridge, to assist pedestrians in the crosswalk. This safety feature is incorporated along the Main Street upgrade.

Councilor Noelle Mundy suggested an archway or other means to make the park stand out on Main Street. The final name for the park has not yet been chosen.

Hamill recounted that state and local officials saw that connecting the Sycamore Point project and the downtown revitalization project would be an opportunity for economic development. Hamill commented that the park will improve property values and help attract "that young talent that we need." Wilken noted he has talked to a few businesses that are coming to town because of the revitalization efforts.

GHP previously announced state grants totaling $311,000 for the 12th Street project design and construction. Although more is needed, Wood stated that it is GHP's intention to acquire all the funding, rather than leave it for the borough.

Council President James Brennan abstained from voting, expressing concern to Wilken about whether there would be funding to remove the plum tree that fell that day, partly onto Main Street and the rest leaning against the Limerick building which he owns. He stated that GHP had the plum trees planted along Main Street.

Nilsen voted "no" to the plan, which passed 4-1-1 (Councilor Tiffany Rogers was absent).

Mayor Derek Williams said the plan is "inspiring" and evokes the scenes of Honesdale from postcards around the turn of the 19th century when the Lackawaxen River along East Park Street had a dam to create "Park Lake."

"Now we have a really beautiful opportunity to have something very nice like that again thanks to the hard work of GHP, Woodland Design and Borough Council, and citizens who worked together... for a very long time," Williams said.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Honesdale Borough Council has approved the design for a new park. Here are the plans