Gloucester County is in the process of fundraising to make the park at the site of the former Tucker Store a reality. The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors gave the green light for county staff to formalize fundraising and contract for design services for the 5,000-square-foot community space concept adjacent to the court circle during its Aug. 1 meeting in the colonial courthouse.
The project, which is expected to cost between $57,000 and $78,000, will involve no public money, according to Carol Steele, Gloucester’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism director. She said the park will include planting and amenities that can greatly enhance the vacant lot as well as seating and shade that can accommodate the people who walk along Main Street.
In March, the board of supervisors approved moving forward with a National Park Service kiosk, bench and drinking fountain at the outer edge of the park next to Main Street with a private donation that had already come in for the space.
“When the information got out to the community about the park, I was contacted with the idea of an additional improvement of a town clock,” Steele said. “The community is interested in making this a better site. When you talk about community space, people get excited and want to see it improved.”
Steele said the town clock was an idea that came from a local Rotary Club, in memory of a club member’s spouse. “This is a typical thing where community groups want to undertake a project that will have a positive community impact,” she said.
Other possible additional enhancements to the site include interpretive signage, a bike rack, additional benches and lighting, walkways and landscaping.
Currently, the future park has the support of about $35,000, Steele said. Options for filling the remaining funding gap include individual brick sales, a water fountain sponsorship and grants and a few more individual private donations. She said a more definitive plan and associated budget will be created now that the plan has been approved by the board of supervisors and authorized to proceed.
Steele said there is no timeline on getting the park completed, but said she would like to have donations for the park finalized as soon as possible. She said construction could occur in stages and the project could be promoted on-site and through social media.
Ware district supervisor Andy James said he thought the piece of land was bought to “cover our backside” thinking the county would need to erect another building in the Court House area. “Now, it’s going to be a park, I guess,” James said.
He added, “We need to offer this to all the people in the county and all the clubs in the county. Before we say the Rotary Club is going to put a $10,000 clock, we need to see if maybe the Ruritans want to put up $10,000 for that clock. So, why are you going to let the Rotary do it and not the Ruritans?”
“The people of the county need to know this is available to them,” James said. “And if they have a family member they want to honor or memorialize, they should be given the same (opportunity) as the one or two others who have already come forward.”
Steele said she understood and didn’t want to hurt feelings of any civic group, but also cautioned against chasing away any civic group that wanted to contribute. “I can assure you I will do anything and everything to make sure other organizations feel like they can be a part of this,” she said.