New features at North Berkeley Community Park
North Berkeley Community Parks had four fitness stations recently installed along with two spring riders that were painted by the Morgan Arts Council.
The park is located on Williams Street behind the Morgan County School Board office. Morgan County Parks & Recreation maintains it.
Parallel bars, a balance beam, chin-up bars and a leg lift station are installed in pairs and have instructional signs on how to safely use the equipment.
One sign still needs put in, said Parks & Recreation Acting Director Bruce Beadenkopf.
Donations of $1,200 from the Morgan County Forum for Arts, Sciences and Technology (FAST) and $1,000 from War Memorial Hospital went toward the fitness stations and signs. More fitness stations/challenges are planned.
The remaining money
from a $2,000 Potomac Headwaters RC & D seed grant paid for the safety area mulch around the fitness stations. It will also fund the construction of a handicapped-accessible ramp to the pavilion.
Park features
The park features an asphalt walking trail, pre-school playground equipment donated by Morgan County Starting Points, picnic tables, park benches, a horseshoe pit, trees and a pavilion.
A $2,500 donation from the Berkeley Springs Rotary paid for materials to construct the pavilion, which Parks & Recreation staff and volunteers built.
The walking trail was funded through a $5,000 mini-grant from Region
9 Planning & Development Council and the Potomac Headwaters grant.
Parks & Recreation paid to asphalt the trail. They also constructed the horseshoe pit, put in the fitness stations and playground equipment and built and installed the picnic tables & park benches.
The Freeman Foundation donated the spring riders to Parks & Recreation from the old Coolfont playground area. The Berkeley Springs Dairy Queen contributed waste cans that were painted.
Donations were also received from the Order of the Moose Lodge, State Farm Insurance, the Mountain State Cruisers and other businesses and individuals for playground and obstacle course equipment and as needed items.
The RAG Shop has also been accepting donations of used items in good condition for the park. A portion of the proceeds go to Parks & Recreation for the park.
Pets allowed
The Parks and Recreation Board of Directors recently voted to now allow pets at North Berkeley Community Park and Spruce Pine Hollow Roadside Park only. Pet owners are urged to keep their animals restrained on a leash while they are at the parks.
The board also plans to put in pet waste disposal baggies, Beadenkopf said. Pet owners are asked to clean up after their animals.
If allowing pets doesn’t work out, soon-to-be-posted park signs will be changed to say that no pets are allowed, he said.
Joint project
North Berkeley Community Park has been a joint project of Parks & Recreation, Potomac Headwaters, Region 9 Planning Council, the Berkeley Springs Rotary and community volunteers.
The North Berkeley Community Park Committee has turned over the management of the project and its funding to Parks & Recreation.
Creating the park to this point has been a true community effort with many individuals, agencies and organizations pulling together to make it happen, park project coordinator Kate Evans said.
The next phase is finding money to fund the main playground piece that has a children’s obstacle course component, she said. The cost is estimated at around $40,000.
Many using park
A lot of people are using the park, said Parks & Recreation board president Kenny Mason.
Adults and children can regularly be seen walking the trail, playing in the sand and enjoying the playground equipment and pavilion.
The distance around the park’s walking trail is 765 feet, Beadenkopf said. Walking seven laps around the trail equals a distance of a mile and 75 feet.
Grand opening event
A park grand opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday morning, August 28. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, children’s games and information booths for health and family and children organizations and agencies are planned.
To donate or help with the North Berkeley Community Park project, call Bruce Beadenkopf at 304-279-2284.
