Park To Feature, Trails, Ball Field, Picnic Areas
The town of Goshen is working on developing a large parcel of town-owned land into a park.
The property in question, located behind the Dollar General Store on Virginia Avenue, has been owned by the town since 2000. It covers 45 acres of land between the store and the Calfpasture River, including between 2,000 and 2,500 feet of river front.
The land hasn’t been utilized by the town since its purchase, due in part to the fact that that the original access to the property was cut off when the town sold part of it for the site of the Dollar General in 2012.
However, a recent acquisition of some property adjacent to the Dollar General – which included a section of a private lane called Sunset Drive – by the town opened access to the property again.
With the town now able to get back to the land, discussions began being held about what to do with the property.
Vice Mayor Steve Bickley told The News-Gazette last month that the only idea that the town kept coming up with was to develop a park.
The town held a public hearing at the Goshen firehouse and an open house on the property itself to get feedback from citizens about what to do with the property, and the town got a lot of feedback on what not to put on the property, along with support for the idea of a park.
“Nobody was interested in a warehouse that was going to bring a bunch of extra truck traffic through Goshen, or a data center,” Bickley said. “Since the property is on the river, the park was what seemed to make the most sense to everybody. It was pretty unanimous from the people that showed up to the public hearing and the open house that they wanted a park.”
The proposed plans for the park include a parking area near the entrance with public restrooms, a concession stand, a sports field and a small playground, along with a handicap accessible walking trail that will loop near the parking lot with minimal grading changes for easy accessibility. Additional trails will branch off and go further into the property toward the river for a total of 1.5 miles of trails which will be accessible for walking, biking, and even horseback riding. Picnic areas will be installed along the trails, with a potential overlook on the river, as well as an access path down to the water front.
The town has been working on taking steps to turn the land into a park since those hearings last year.
With assistance from the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission, the town recently completed an application for a $350,000 grant for a conservation easement for 40 acres of the property – five acres of the property nearest the Dollar General are being held back as the town is working on trying to get a Dollar General Market to be built in Goshen to replace the current store – through the Virginia Outdoor Foundation.
The town sent in the application for the grant on March 18 and expects to hear the results of the application in either mid-June or early July.
The town is also planning to apply for a grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Land and Water Conservation Fund, and plans to put up the money from the conservation easement grant as matching funds for that grant.
Additionally, they will also utilize the value of a variety of donated services related to the park project, including Lynchburg- based appraisal group Myers and Woods for the appraisal of the property for the conservation easement grant, and donated services from David Hill Studio in Roanoke for designing the park.
Bickley estimates that, with the full funding for the conservation easement, the town will have approximately $425,000 in funds or in-kind donations to put toward the conservation fund grant.
Additionally, the town has made inquiries to local businesses about sponsoring the construction of various aspects of the park. Bickley has reached out to Stella-Jones, which operates a manufacturing plant just outside of Goshen, about sponsoring the construction of the bathrooms, and told The News-Gazette on Monday that he hopes to get an update from them next week. Town Council member Derrick Ogden has also made inquiries to Wal-Mart and Lowe’s about sponsoring the playground and the sports field.
“I really think that, once we get off the ground with it, we’re going to get a lot of interest from folks who are going to want to get in on something like this,” Bickley said. “We’ve got Goshen Pass, but other than that, there’s not a whole lot out here. I think it can be quite a jewel for the area, I really do.”
The town is also looking into putting in electric vehicle charging stations in the park.
Currently, there aren’t any charging stations between Staunton and Hot Springs along Va. 39, so having one in Goshen will provide a resource for drivers with electric vehicles, and will allow them to stop in town and utilize the park.
Additionally, if they can put in an electric vehicle charging station, the town will get a stipend for having it which can be put toward park maintenance and if they can get a grant to fund the installation, the electricity for the bathrooms and concession stand can be paid for with that grant and not come from the town’s other grant funds.
At the Town Council meeting earlier this month, Bickley reported that the grants available for these charging stations are for nonprofits and not available for municipalities, so the town is currently looking for a local nonprofit to apply for the grant on the town’s behalf.
