Proposed Lancaster Urban Forest Center
A master plan for the proposed Lancaster Urban Forest Center in East Hempfield Township is ready for public inspection.
Lancaster County Conservancy sought ideas from residents, groups and government officials. Now it has an initial blueprint of what the center could look like, and it's ready to show it to the public at two public meetings.
The first will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at Grace Baptist Church, Marietta Pike and Farmingdale Road. A second meeting will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 10, at James Street Mennonite Church, 323 W. James St.
Refreshments will be served at both meetings. If planning to attend the March 10 meeting, registration is required by March 7 by calling the Conservancy at 392-7891 or e-mailing bmoyer@lancasterconservancy.org.
The Conservancy is urging the public to attend a meeting to learn more about the project "and to provide ideas to make this a project that truly reflects the needs and desires of the community."
The master plan may be viewed below.
The core of the venture is a 75-acre tract owned by Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority. It is along both sides of Farmingdale Road.
Among the proposed uses in the master plan are meeting rooms and offices for environmental education, two treehouses, demonstration gardens and plantings for homeowners, stream crossings, a fishing area, a history walk, trails, parking areas, an improved dog park, a forest restoration area, a boardwalk, existing and new wetlands and outdoor classrooms.
The plan calls for five activity centers including a public engagement center, a conservation center, a nature learning center, a collaboration center and a nature stewardship center.
The Urban Forest Center could expand onto neighboring properties. Among them: the Keith and Dorothy Spalding Conservancy on Franklin & Marshall College's Baker Campus, and possibly the proposed The Crossings at Conestoga Creek, a retail/residential complex slated for a 90-acre site along Harrisburg Pike, across from Long's Park.
The ideas contained in the first master plan partly came out of a public planning meeting last October attended by about 100 people.
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