The High School Park Meadow Restoration
In 2007 the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) funded the planning grant to develop High School Park (HSP) and Ogontz Park. This fostered broad community input and support and resulted in our 10 Year Ecological Management Plan. It is based on a foundation of solid ecological and land use planning provided by an ecologist and biologist.
In 2010 the DCNR awarded a second grant of $125,000 with matching services from Cheltenham Township and Friends of High School Park to restore the meadow and edge ecosystem on 2.5 acres of the 11.49 acres of open space and passive recreation that is High School Park (HSP).
Since 1995, Friends of High School Park has continued to reclaim, enhance and restore what was once the built environment of Cheltenham High School to a natural setting with native plants and vegetation to benefit wildlife habitat and for human enjoyment. Over 1,000 volunteer community service hours have been pledged for this new meadow project.
The property is centrally located and is an anchor of the community. It is the connection point to travel to and from the train station, small businesses, schools, synagogues and the library in a well established neighborhood consisting of walk-able connecting sidewalks dating from the 1930’s and 40’s. It is used by public and private schools, scouts and individuals for outdoor education and recreation.
HSP encompasses three distinct environmental zones and ecosystems within its boundaries: meadow, woodland and riparian buffer.
3 PRIMARY OUTCOMES FOR THE THREE YEAR PROJECT
Meadow Restoration – Establish and maintain an early successional meadow landscape dominated by native warm-season grasses and wildflowers to connect people with nature
Edge Restoration - Establish and maintain a wide transition area between the wooded and open areas consisting of a variety of vegetative layers of native trees, shrubs and perennials. to enhance the meadow walk experience.
Demonstration Meadow Garden – Renovate the Fulton Garden to allow visitors to sit on benches, enjoy a butterfly garden and glean more information from the educational and interpretive signage explaining the benefits of a native meadow and edge ecosystem.
OUR GOAL IS TO ENCOURAGE A GREATER CONNECTION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND NATURE BY
Maintaining and enhancing the landscape – continue to eliminate invasive plants and maintain new plantings (HSP was the winner of the 2004 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s (PHS) Suburban Greening Award and the 2011 PHS Community Greening Award for its Backyard Natives Garden.)
Connecting people with nature - HSP is one of the few natural pockets in the township where people routinely walk. Enhancing the meadow will invite people to casually walk through and have a greater appreciation of native plants in different habitats with the aid of explanatory project signs.
Managing storm water run-off - by narrowing the 30 foot wide paths down to @10 feet and increasing the tall meadow area to capture storm water
Conserving energy - by using less fossil fuel by mowing narrower paths. Sequestering more carbon dioxide by planting additional woody plants around the meadow edge to help keep the area cooler in the summer.
Integrating green design - that will encourage residents to incorporate native plants. Our project does not involve construction to reduce storm water erosion.
