Easley SC Planning a “Green” Oasis
Easley SC is planning a “green” oasis
By: By Julie Howle • Greenville News STAFF WRITER
Community input being used to help shape the future Nalley Brown Nature Park means the space could boast amenities from walking trails to educational exhibits.
The Nalley Brown Nature Park is planned to sit on about 38 acres on Adger Road near State 135, and a small group of people gathered at a community meeting Tuesday night to give feedback on ideas for the park.
“We think it’s going to be a great addition to the Easley community and a great educational opportunity for the citizens and school kids,” said Rick Huffman, owner of Earth Design, the group creating the master plan for the park.
Huffman said the vision for the park continues to evolve and said input from surveys and community meetings are a part of helping shape the plan.
Amenities that were brought up at the meeting include having educational signage along walking trails, observation areas and information on native plants, porous pavement, rainwater collection or other ways to have less of an impact on the environment.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for people in the community to learn how to be environmentally friendly, taking things they can learn at that park back to their own yards,” said Cynthia Bunton, chairwoman of the Nalley Brown steering committee and a guidance counselor at West End Elementary.
Easley City Council members voted in 2007 to annex the land, which was formerly owned by the Nalley Brown family and was given to the city in 2006.
City Councilman Dave Watson suggested one central building with restrooms and other possible features to help make the project economically feasible because fewer structures will make maintenance easier.
Huffman said people who responded to the community survey ranked walking trails, picnic shelters, benches, parking, educational exhibits and an outdoor amphitheater among the top amenities.
Teachers who were surveyed ranked educational exhibits and an environmental education building at the top and also requested natural ecosystem displays, lecture halls, laboratories, and local and native plants, animals and history.
Huffman said the master plan is expected to be finished in June and will be used as a tool to get more grants, donations and funding.
He said those involved don’t have a timeline for when the work can start on the site and don’t have an estimate for how much will need to be raised yet.
“As we become more urbanized, places like Nalley Brown Nature Park will become green oases in the urban footprint,” Huffman said. “I think there’s an opportunity to teach land ethic values, to teach the values for the land as it is.”
Another meeting about the Nalley Brown Nature Park is planned for March 30 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
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