‘Our goal is to ensure retention’ – Baltimore Sun

Taneytown’s new nature park, featuring a 2-acre pollinator, meditation garden and fishing spots in Piney Run Creek, opened to the public on Saturday.

The new park includes a black bear sculpture by artist Noah Russell, as well as a nearly 1-mile, handicap-accessible trail, and a 2-acre parking lot with solar lights and security cameras, rotating benches. , stormwater facility, forest conservation areas, and signage.

“This park has been a labor of love for the city for many years and we are excited to have it completed and open to the public,” Lorena Vaccare, director of the Taneytown Parks and Recreation Department, said in an email.

Taneytown has spent $884,565 to create the nature park, according to Vaccare, with more than half coming from grants, and the rest of the funding coming from impact fees. The $319,129 grant was awarded by the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Chesapeake Bay Trust Fund committed $5,000 to the pollinator meadow, and $150,000 was provided by the state Department of Natural Resources’ Community Parks and Playgrounds program. The city contributed more than $410,000 to the project.

An apiary was included in the design of the park, but Vaccare said the idea was scrapped because it would require too much maintenance and would be directed at European bees rather than native bees. The park’s pollinator meadow was created to help native bees thrive.

“We are committed to maintaining and preserving this natural habitat,” Vaccare said in an email, “and our goal is to ensure conservation by maintaining this natural landscape for the enjoyment and education of our greater community, now and for years to come.”

An observatory built and operated by the Westminster Astronomical Society was also considered but never materialized, Vaccare said.

Construction started in June last year. According to Vaccare, the opening of Bollinger Park was originally expected in November, but delays were caused by material shortages and uncooperative weather.

The foundation of the park was laid in 1997 when Percy and Pauline Bollinger donated 51 acres to the City of Taneytown for nature conservation and forestry, according to Vaccare. The city later acquired nearby property to include the original 102-acre site that exists today — 40 acres from David Garrett in 2014 and 11 acres from Robert Dayhoff in 2003.

“We are grateful for the initial donation of land by the Bollinger family, and for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ belief in our vision by providing grant funding that helped enable us to complete our work,” Vaccare said in an email.

Bollinger Park can be accessed on Fringer Road, off the Francis Scott Key Highway, also known as Route 194.