The newest park planned for Moorestown Township is quickly coming to a reality, but the Friends of Percheron Park have to wait for a monitoring process to come to a close before work on a new public park can begin.
The Friends of the Percheron Park are working to begin construction on a new public park at the intersection of High and Main streets, explained Township Councilman Chris Chiacchio, the liaison to the group.
Right now, the group is attempting to form a 501©3 nonprofit, he said, so it can begin fundraising in earnest.
The park was first proposed in June 2011 in honor of Ed Harris Jr., of Moorestown, who visited France in 1839 and first encountered the Percheron breed of horses. The sturdy horses, he found, were great for pulling carriages and farm equipment and the Moorestown citizen brought the first two Percheron horses to America.
The township acquired the piece of property in 2008 from Puritan Oil, which had previously used the land as a gas station and an automobile repair facility.
The township purchased the property for a price of $350,000 and assumed responsibility for any environmental remediation costs which exceeded $360,000, but that cost less than
$410,000.
“The park was designed by Rebecca Zellner at no cost, and we have an estimated cost of $110,000. The property used to be a gas station. The soil is clean now, but there was gas that did leak down into the soil over the years, so we have to have monitoring wells at the site,” Chiacchio said. “Right now, a company is doing the monitoring. It must be monitored for a certain amount of time and the results will be reported back to the township. We’ll know the timeline when the report is given to us.”
Chiacchio said the wells would monitor the ground over the spring and summer, and hopefully, the Friends of the Percheron Park will be able to begin work sometime in the fall.
So far, the friends have been able to raise about $1,000 for the park. It’s the group’s goal, he said, to completely fund the project without using tax dollars.
“It’s not all the money in the world, but in these times, $1,000 isn’t easy to come by,” he said.
The park would be ringed with local vegetation and a tree planted in the middle of the property. It would have an etching in the middle dedicated the park and a small track of horseshoe prints.
The property would also be ringed by a retaining wall to create the “pocket” park.
Small lights could be installed on the retaining wall if a lighting element is necessary, she said. The park would be hard scape in the center as well.
More features could be installed if the funding could be found, she said, including a labyrinth or a statue of a Percheron.
To help make the park a reality and/or to donate money, send an email to Chiacchio at towncouncil@moorestown.nj.us.
