NEWS - OLD PARK GETS NEW LIFE

Tuesday, Jun. 21, 2011

Old park gets new life

By TIM FLACH 

A face-lift for Corley Street Park in Lexington is designed to make it a family gathering spot.
Children are busy running through its updated sprinkler fountain decorated as a palm tree, climbing on new playground equipment and resting in pavilions adorned with murals.
“It’s a lot cuter; the kids love it,” said Kelcey Wilson, who occasionally brings students from Rhythmics Performing Arts in nearby Red Bank to the park.

And a small rain garden illustrates ways to filter pollution naturally.
The new facilities are a step that town officials hope will make the four-acre park in the center of town more popular.
Town parks director Dan Walker said the park had been “forgotten,” as others opened during the past 36 years.
It’s the oldest park in the rapidly growing town that is home to nearly 18,000 residents.
The site became a park after an abandoned cemetery was turned over to Town Hall in 1975.
It’s hilly, wooded and isolated. Mountain laurel and wild orchids grow there, plants that Walker said are rare in the Midlands.
Until now, the park was a neighborhood playground with a memorial to Confederate veterans and a small cemetery in its midst.
The park still shows signs of inattention.
Its parking lots are bumpy. Dirt paths are eroded, and pine needles and leaves lie on much its small non-forested area. Plans to add walking trails with exercise stations along its perimeter never materialized.
A $19,000 donation from a foundation associated with Lowe’s home improvement stores paid for the new features.
Tight finances mean the face-lift is all that will happen for a while, Mayor Randy Halfacre said.
“We’ll update it as we can and as required,” he said.
For now, visitors are happy with the new improvements.
“There wasn’t a whole lot for kids,” day care teacher Kathy Gilpatrick said. “Now it’s nice.”