“On Your Mark, Set, Go!” According to the Guilford Park committee, the “starter pistol” has been fired for a 60-day race to raise $20,000 more dollars for the construction of the Guilford Community Park. The committee has been working for over a year on plans to build a park behind the Guilford Store, alongside the Guilford Community Church, in the center of Guilford’s Algiers Village. The park they envision is complete with a green spaces, a pavilion, a walking labyrinth, children’s play area with a slide and swings, a basketball half-court, net and fire pit.
If community members and businesses donate $20,000 by February 28, the park can qualify for a matching $40,000 Vermont Community Development grant, “Better Places Program” which will allow the park committee to have everything on their wish list, explained Dunham Rowley, one of the organizers.
According to Rowley, the vision for this park is one where community members of all ages can socialize and foster community through shared recreational experiences. The large and artfully designed timber-frame pavilion will accommodate community events such as concerts, weddings, family reunions, and a host of other activities, Rowley explained, making use of the amphitheater seating.
“Simple, yet elegant” is how Rowley describes the future park. A labyrinth will be set into the ground for a “meditative walk” using the classic seven-circuit design inspired by ancient mystics and used across Europe and the United States, he said.
Already this week, the plans received a permit and the blessing of the Act 250 process. Now the only thing that stands in the way of a finished park is the $20,000, which needs to be raised under a tight deadline, said Rowley. To donated on-line, visit Patronicity.com/GCP or mail a check to Community Collaborative for Guilford (CC4G), 475E Coolidge Hwy, Guilford, VT 05301 with Guilford Community Park (GCP) in the memo line. Donations are tax-deductible.
For more information, call (802) 579-4572 or email drowley021@msn.com
