From:                              J. B. Forbes [jd_forbes@comcast.net]

Sent:                               Monday, September 29, 2008 4:04 PM

To:                                   suzy martin

Subject:                          Master Plan Ordway Park 2008: FYI

 

Master Plan

 

   Hampstead’s first permanent open space, the 6-acre Ordway Park is located at the corner of Main Street and Depot Road. It was the bequest of Martha Ordway and was accepted by town meeting in 1935. There is a maintenance fund managed by the Trustees of Trust funds. Early uses included: 4th of July celebrations and band concerts, bonfires, drive-in movies, victory gardens during WWII, blueberry-picking for the Boston market, barbeques, semi-pro baseball, town nursery, and Christmas tree planting. The Friends of Ordway Park formed in 1996 with a mandate to reclaim the abandoned park for public use, according to the bequest’s instructions. Redevelopment has incorporated principles of universal design so that park is accessible to people of all ages and physical abilities. The park was rededicated in 1999, as part of Hampstead’s 250th Anniversary celebration.

    Recent uses include: March for Parks, Agriculture in the Park, Easter egg hunt, Halloween bonfires and storytelling, beginner bird walk, Christmas tree lighting and caroling, HarvestFest, plein air art classes, teen camp-out, weddings, Frisbee playing, dog training, community service projects, bluebird boxes, Eagle Scout project, Girl Scout therapy garden project, and the Hampstead Garden Club’s Art in Bloom. The park is available for a wide-range of uses, including unstructured play.

    Projects in the development stage are: native plants and greenscape techniques; measured walking circuit; sensory garden and shade structure; picnic area, with donated antique millstone tables next to a memorial mound; stormwater treatment from off-site state and town roads, and expanded parking Long-range plans focus on integrating the park in a destination greenway linking the Depot Road recreation area with other open space along the linear connection of the Rockingham Trail. The trail is 1 mile long in Hampstead and has the potential of becoming a family-friendly corridor linking varied recreational spaces; it has the potential to link up with substantial open spaces in neighboring towns.

    Challenges include: regularized maintenance of existing improvements, expand membership of Friends of Ordway Park, increase interaction with other town organizations, and raise community awareness of the opportunities for multiple use of the park.