In 2021, New Garden Township supervisors authorized the $1.4 million purchase of the 106-acre Loch Nairn Golf Club site from the Smedley family. At a township meeting in March, Kate Raman, a conservation project manager at Natural Lands, spelled out the future for the park that will include forests, trails and pathways, restored streams and acres of meadows — all the elements of a master plan approved by the board of supervisors. The restoration of the land, referred to as the Smedley Preserve, is intended to enhance the ecological function of water quality, biodiversity and resilience, a goal that will be challenging given its former usage. While the park now has a temporary parking space off McCue Road, a permanent parking area is being proposed off Church Road and adjacent to Sherwood Drive. The estimated $4.25 million price tag includes pre-construction, demo and site preparation, infrastructure upgrades, furniture and amenities, planting materials and meadow seeding. The cost may be alarming to a township that is also developing the former Saint Anthony’s in the Hills property, but financial assistance may come in the form of federal, state and local grants.
Source: Chester County Press; 3/21/2024