Our fundraiser was recently shown on WHAG with the mayor talking about our group!
HAGERSTOWN, MD – City Park is naturally beautiful, but a community group is looking to spruce the area up a little for residents to enjoy and keep them safer.
On a nice day, people from all over the Hub City will come to the south end just to enjoy City Park.
“The City Park’s so beautiful. We want to reflect that in our neighborhood,” says Heather Holman, secretary for the Historic City Park Neighborhoods First group.
They have a plan: add to the park’s surrounding beauty while making it safer, all while getting to know your neighbors. It’s a plan highly endorsed by the city.
“Trying to keep our tax rate low and trying to fill a five million dollar budget hole is difficult, so having this neighborhood group step up is actually a blessing,” says Mayor Bob Bruchey.
The community says they’ve had problems with speeding drivers and they want to add more lights around the park to keep it safe even at night. They also want to plant more trees and perk the area up with decorative street markers and hanging flower pots.
Holman adds, “We actually want to bring the pride back into Hagerstown. If you look at old historic photos, you see people actually really cared about their properties and it started to fall off a bit and we want to bring that back.”
The Neighborhoods First group is launching their first fundraiser in hopes of raising $2,000 through a flower sale. It’s also a gift that will also help decorate the neighborhood.
You may see the changes in the south end, but the effects could potentially be felt across the city, making Hagerstown a better place to live, work, and play.
“People want to be here. You’ve got to make them want to stay, want to re-locate, do business, all those things,” Bruchey says.
The group meets the first Wednesday of every month.
Fifty percent of the proceeds from their fundraiser will go towards the beautification and safety efforts. You can also make a tax deductible monetary donation.
Hagerstown City Park is known as America's 2nd most beautiful park. The first most beautiful being Central Park in New York City. The park was designed by landscape architect George Burnap who helped design some of the landscapes in Central Park.