It has been 12 years since Gloucester businesswoman Arline Lanciano and her family donated 100 acres of mid-county land for a community park. That generous donation was followed by a gift of $85,000 from the family toward park planning and development. On Saturday, the community will see the fruition of those gifts, when Woodville Park officially opens to the public.

Lanciano worked with county parks and recreation director Carol Steele in making the gifts and planning their use. The donor died in 2009 and Steele has continued to spearhead the drive to get the park open. "I just wish she could be there, but I know she’ll be there in spirit," Steele said of the opening. "I know she would be pleased. Oh, so pleased."

Steele estimates over $2 million worth of planning and development has gone into the park so far, based on development costs for similar projects. Of that amount, less than $20,000 has come from county coffers. There have been in-kind contributions from the county, largely through time invested by personnel, but the rest has come from grants, donations and the hard work of a small army of volunteers.

The first volunteers involved were the members of Park Partners Inc., a non-profit support group that supports parks and recreation in the county. The Partners accepted Lanciano’s gift of land before turning it over to the county. They were also the stewards of the monetary gift and, since 2001, have dedicated most of their fundraising to the Woodville project.

The Gloucester Master Gardeners were early volunteers and lent their expertise to the planning. In more recent years, the Master Gardeners have assisted with brush clearing and planting. They have also planned to construct a variety of demonstration gardens, beginning with a pair of raised community vegetable beds presently under cultivation.

The gardening group hopes to partner with local food pantries in its Woodville project. "We’ll build the demo beds and they can put in what they would like and work them," said local Master Gardeners’ spokesman Jim Newton. Among other ideas, the gardeners also plan to plant trees for pruning demonstrations, and to demonstrate how a rain garden can be used to capture runoff.

Professional planning for the project was done by Williamsburg architect Carlton Abbott, a friend of Lanciano. It was a daunting volunteer task to dodge wetlands and plan for drainage in the wet soil area, but Lanciano was never deterred by the challenges and her drive was contagious to all involved. Ricky Wiatt of Mathews, a landscape designer for Abbott’s firm, has also been involved and produced the most recent park layout.

The next significant volunteer involved soon proved to be one without peer. Park Partners’ member Chris Clifford, who owns a local marine contracting and design company, had already donated much time, machinery and fuel to making improvements at local parks. He is also president of the local Baystars Soccer Club, and built an entire soccer complex in a partnership with Gloucester Public Schools. His volunteer work has garnered local, regional and national recognition.

Clifford did not initially share in the enthusiasm for the Woodville plan. "With the proximity to the Coleman Swamp and all, early on I thought this is just not a place for a park," he said. But his thinking changed and he began to see the project as doable. "The truth of it is, the soils there are not swampy. They’re wet, but not swampy."

Beginning in 2006, weather and ground conditions allowing, Clifford began to spend 30 to 40 hours a week working at the Woodville site. One of his first major undertakings was to build the pond that would be a focal point in the development of the first 50 acres of the park. The pond serves a number of functions, including providing irrigation water for the nearby soccer fields, and is already attracting waterfowl.

Two years ago, with a sand soccer playing area and a traditional grass soccer field in place, the park unofficially opened to allow the use of those spaces and the park got its first public exposure. It was easier now to see the park’s potential, which brought more donations and more volunteers.

"Part of my job was to get that volunteer momentum going. It took a while, but for the past year it’s been remarkable," Clifford said. "Thirty to 80 people have shown up for community workdays, and at other times people just drop by and offer to work. The momentum has turned. It’s not just me, myself and I out there anymore. This has been the neat thing for me to watch. And people have offered new ideas, which has been wonderful."

A second traditional soccer field is under cultivation and county Rotarians spearheaded an effort to build a raised walkway through a wetlands area. An expansive paved entrance and roadway adds appeal and much underbrush has been cleared and replaced with plantings that are part of the landscape design.

Clifford said 32 of the 50 front acres are now developed to some degree. "Things are happening on every acre of that 32," he said, while 18 acres hold five more athletic fields and serve as the new home for Gloucester Youth Football.

Also part of the layout but yet to come are a memorial garden, picnic shelters, an amphitheater and a performance barn. Presently, nature trails are planned for the back 50 acres, which are furthest from the highway.

The idea to provide a park for the county came late in Lanciano’s life. In 1991, the 70-year-old native of Grand Island, Neb., attended a family reunion in a location near her hometown. Her daughter, Sherry L. Hodges, accompanied her along with Sherry’s young son. Hodges recounted a part of the visit to Nebraska.

As a child, Lanciano and her older brother spent many hours playing in a park near their elementary school while their parents were busy with their daily newspaper business. Since they were near Grand Island, Lanciano wanted to take her grandson by to spend some time enjoying the park she enjoyed as a child.

Hodges said her mother had never spoken of the small park before, and while they visited there she reminisced about her childhood and the time she spent in the park with her brother.

Hodges recalled that the park, shaded with large trees, held tennis courts, a wading pool, a playground and a stage area. In the stage area, she discovered a brass plaque that said the park was a gift from Grand Island native Grace Abbott and was called Grace Abbott Memorial Park. "Mom, when she was a little girl, didn’t know about Abbott," Hodges said.

Abbott, who lived from 1878 to 1939, was born in Grand Island and later moved to Chicago to begin her career as a social worker. She earned an advanced degree in political science from the University of Chicago, and became an advocate for advancing child welfare. She worked with federal agencies related to her cause, and helped draft the Social Security Act. She was also the first woman nominated for a presidential cabinet position.

Having found some success in her life, Abbott had wanted to make the park a gift to her hometown. "That’s how the seed got planted," Hodges said. Her mother, who had accumulated property over the course of a successful 30-year career in real estate, thought of giving some of her land back to the community where she found that success.

A few years later, Hodges, an art teacher, was among the Virginia teachers selected to assemble in Staunton to begin developing the state’s Standards of Learning. While there, she visited Gypsy Hill Park, a large park that held playgrounds and athletic fields along with a gazebo and amphitheater for music and other performances.

Hodges suggested her mother visit Gypsy Hill, and when she did, Lanciano liked what she saw. "It was something more extensive than what she had in Nebraska. A park not just for children, but for all ages and stages of your life," said Hodges.

Hodges said her mother decided that 100 acres and a design plan for all ages would be something Gloucester should have. She said her mother selected a mid-county area "so that everybody will benefit." The ultimate plan for Woodville, which is named for a plantation the property once was part of, included much of what Lanciano saw and liked at Gypsy Hill.

Lanciano also included an additional feature—a memorial park. "Dad was alive when Mom started to roll on this concept, but he was terminally ill. I think she was thinking about the more senior members of Gloucester County, and a memorial park had its appeal because she knew it was going to touch her personal life soon. She wanted a place for solace, to reflect on those you’ve lost and those you’ve treasured." Lanciano’s husband, Claude O. Lanciano Jr., died in 2002.

Hodges said her mother would be happy to see her gift becoming what she wanted it to be. "I think she’d be very pleased and appreciative for everybody who sweated an hour or wrote a check for five bucks. It’s still a work in progress, and I encourage young and old to come out and help. If you can’t, then write a check to cover another gallon of poison ivy killer. We’ll take the help in any form that it comes from."

Hodges also emphasized that Lanciano wanted the gift to be from her entire family. "When she would make these decisions about giving the land away, and it was her decision, she would also include us. She let us know what her thinking was and ask us if it was okay. She always wanted all of us here for the recognitions we received for the gifts, they were from the Lanciano family." (Sherry has three bothers, Tracy, Scott and Darwin).

"Mother was a perpetual optimist who was willing to work hard," Hodges said. "She was the one who taught all of us to work real hard and give back. She had the history to make this happen for the community that she and Dad loved. I think she would be pleased. She’s looking down and smiling."