Getting kids out of the classroom and into nature has long been held by teachers and parents as the best approach to teaching the fundamentals environmental science. The planning for a Nature Discovery Park for children directly adjacent to the new community library in Felton takes this approach to another level- kids can use the park and the library without needing a ride between them, and will have access to both traditional educational materials and outdoor education at the same place.
Santa Cruz County Parks Department hosted a community design meeting for the Nature Discovery Park last Friday that drew about 30 people to the Felton Community Hall to look at and comment on preliminary designs for the Nature Discovery Park, and offer suggestions on how they might be improved.
“This is a one-of-kind project in California, and a wonderful example of community collaboration,” Fifth District County Supervisor Bruce McPherson said, who was reported by many to have been influential in keeping the project moving forward. “I love getting everybody together in the same room for community commitment, and this project shows what is possible when everyone is committed,” McPherson said.
Many years after the Verutti family offered to donate a one acre site next to the Felton Post Office on Gushee Street for a the new library, in 2015 they found themselves negotiating with the County Parks Department for the sale of the roughly one-acre parcel of undeveloped land next to the donated site, which has Bull Creek running diagonally across it. While the riparian corridor of Bull Creek limited the development potential of the site, the donation of the library site and the sale of the adjoining parcel for the park is a testament to the Verutti family’s commitment to the Felton community.
Forging the link between the Santa Cruz County Library System and the Santa Cruz County Parks Department was mostly the work of Felton Library Friends, under the leadership of Nancy Gerdt. With their own money, Felton Library Friends hired a consultant to study the potential for outdoor education on the park site, which eventually piqued the interest of the County Parks Department. This was going on about the same time voters passed a $67 million bond issue for the library system, Measure S in 2016, $10 million of which was designated for the Felton Library. But those funds are not available for a park.
The next big win to realizing the vision of a Nature Discovery Park next to the library came in early May with the award of a $395,000 grant by California State Parks, through their California Outdoor Environmental Education Facilities Grant Program, to the County Parks Department. The Nature Discovery Park was one of only 39 projects across the state awarded funding from this competitive grant program, and is the only project located next to a library.
The preliminary designs for the park include a nature trail with interpretive signage and pedestrian bridges over Bull Creek. The interpretive signage will support environmental education stations for interactive learning, play areas designed for different ages, a small amphitheater and stage, as well as quiet and secluded areas to simply observe and appreciate the riparian woodlands.
“The guiding principles of the preliminary design were to promote environmental literacy, and this outdoor space is very conducive to learning about watershed management, and protecting our creeks,” said Will Fourt, Park Planner for the county, to a group at the design workshop.
Eric Sturm, Park Superintendent for county parks, emphasized the generous volunteer and docent support many county parks depend on, and said he expects the same at the Nature Discovery Park. Sturm said he expects volunteer programs will help in the restoration of the riparian woodland and help eradicate invasive, non-native species, as well help preserve, protect and mitigate any disruption to the creek-side ecosystem.
In response to a question about how county parks will avoid damage done by homeless persons, which has happened around the Felton Covered Bridge Park, Sturm said he would again be looking to the community for support, as well as the County Sheriff.
“There will be sweeps, of course, by the County Sheriff if homeless people take up residency in the park, but our best defense against homeless people doing damage to our park is plenty of park use by regular citizens – and these park users keeping an eye on things and reporting abuses when they see them,” Sturm said.
Nancy Gerdt, Chair of Felton Library Friends, said she has been very excited about the community collaboration that has brought the project to this point, and made a pitch for a fundraising campaign that Felton Library Friends are currently planning to complete both the library and the Nature Discovery Park.
According to Will Fourt, the total cost of developing the park could be as much as double the amount of the $395,000 state grant, and the Parks Department will be looking to the Felton community to help raise these funds. The goal is to develop the park and build the library simultaneously, which are scheduled for a grand opening hopefully by the fall of 2019. More information about local fund raising events can be found at http://www.feltonlibraryfriends.org/.
