What do you want at Antrim Township parks? Survey is part of master plan process

Hundreds of people, young and old and everywhere in between, could be found walking, playing or enjoying a snack at Antrim Township Community Park as summer-like temperatures blanketed the area last week.

Down the hill at Martin’s Mill Bridge Park folks were fishing, swimming and “floating the Jig” near the historic covered bridge.

To the northwest, it was quieter at Enoch Brown Park, where the centerpiece is a monument dedicated to the schoolmaster and his students massacred in 1764.

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Who does and doesn’t use the parks, what they like and don’t like, what they want to see in the future and more are part of a survey as the township works to develop a master site plan for the three parks it owns.

The survey is available on the township website and at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZSXFF95

An interactive, come-and-go-as-you-please public meeting is planned from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, in the large pavilion at Antrim Township Community Park on Grant Shook Road.

Representatives of YSM, the York-based firm specializing in park and recreation design and planning that the township is working with, will be on hand with displays, to answer questions and listen to comments, according to Cheryl Walburn. The township parks director, she will be at the meeting, too, likely along with members of the township park committee.

“We really want to see what the community sees … perfect as it or are there shortcomings?” Walburn said.

“It’s hard sit around table with seven people and make recommendations for the whole township,” she added, explaining the parks committee meets monthly and serves as a steering panel for Antrim Township supervisors.

The April 24 meeting is part of the nine- to 12-month planning process that started in February. Another meeting will be held after concepts are created.

What are the three parks owned by Antrim Township?

Antrim Township Community Park is the largest township park at around 200 acres. The initial 136 acres were purchased in 1999, creation of the park started in 2000 and improvements are ongoing.

Its features include a paved, 1 1/2-mile walking trail, numerous other trails, a disc golf course, a dog park, pavilions, playground equipment, tennis and basketball courts, playing fields and horseshoe and gaga ball pits.

Some trails from Antrim Township Community Park head downhill to the adjacent Martin’s Mill Bridge Park, located along the east branch of the Conococheague Creek at the historic covered bridge on Weaver Road. The Martin’s Mill Bridge Association turned the park and bridge over to the township at the end of 2003. It has a pavilion, play equipment and picnic tables.

Enoch Brown Park is on Enoch Brown Road, which runs between Williamson and Stone Bridge roads. It is the first park the township owned, turned over in the early 1990s by the Enoch Brown Park and Monument Association. The park was dedicated in the 1880s and memorializes the site where schoolmaster Enoch Brown and his students were massacred on July 26, 1764. The 3-acre park has a monument and the common grave marker for the teacher and children, swings and a sliding board, a pavilion and walking trails.

In addition to these parks, the survey also asks how often people visit other recreational sites in the Greencastle-Antrim community — Ebbert Spring Heritage Park and Archaeological Preserve, Jerome R. King Playground, Tayamentasachta and the Kauffman, State Line and Shady Grove Ruritan facilities.

What is the purpose of a master plan for Antrim Township Parks?

The last park plan was done in 2000 and just covered Antrim Township Community Park, so it is time for a new plan, Walburn said.

She explained information about a master plan as well as community input were requested when the township applied for and received a $541,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Announced in January 2023, the grant is being used for an Americans with Disabilities Act compliant restroom, covered individual picnic tables, native plantings and pedestrian safety improvements.

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Some money from the grant as well as “tipping fees,” money the township receives as a host municipality for the Mountainview Reclamation landfill at Upton, are paying for the master plan, which costs about $50,000.

A new, phased master plan and follow-through are important as the township seeks grants for future improvements at the parks, Walburn said.

“We hope to get grants on a regular basis. I think many amenities will be added,” Walburn said. “If we seek grant funding, we need to show need in the community.”

Near the top of the list is a barrier-free playground with ramps, swings and swinging platforms for children and adults of all abilities.

A water feature of some sort always comes up on less formal surveys. Walburn said a pool is not in the picture, but a natural, seasonal water play area is a possibility.

She also wants to make sure the needs of older folks in the community are being met. The DCNR grant ensures there are benches at least every 100 yards where people can rest and she mentioned an exercise area geared toward older individuals.

What’s on the Antrim Township park survey?

“The master site plans will explore improvements and opportunities to enhance the parks to meet the recreation needs and interests of its residents,” survey says. “What are your ideas and concerns. How can the parks better serve all in the community? Your answers are important and will guide the master site planning process.”

Many of the questions are multiple choice and most have space for addition comments.

Three ask about the importance people place on additions at each of the parks.

For example, possibilities at Antrim Township Community Park range from an amphitheater and community vegetable garden plots to bocce, pickleball and volleyball courts.

Paddlecraft launching area, cornhole toss, demonstration gardens, horseshoe pits and volleyball courts are on the rating list for Martin’s Mill Bridge Park.

For Enoch Brown Park, some of the items on the survey are demonstration/pollinator garden, public art, exercise equipment stations, modern restroom, open lawn for games and historic, interpretive signs.

People are asked to rate the availability of recreational activities for people with disabilities; families; older adults 65-plus; adults 40 to 64; young adults 18 to 39; middle and high students; elementary age; and preschoolers.

In addition to age, demographic information sought includes were people responding to the survey are from: Greencastle or Antrim Township; other Pennsylvania communities; Maryland; or other states.

Shawn Hardy is a reporter with Gannett's Franklin County newspapers in south-central Pennsylvania — the Echo Pilot in Greencastle, The Record Herald in Waynesboro and the Public Opinion in Chambersburg. She has more than 35 years of journalism experience. Reach her at shardy@gannett.com