New Park, Playground Slated for Amherst

Land for a community garden. A new site for a playground. A perimeter trail and benches for nature walking. All of those and more are planned for a new park in Amherst. After passing final hurdles in a months-long approval process, Joshua’s Park’s organizers have launched a public campaign for donations, according to a press release.

Sally Wilkins, chairwoman of the Amherst Land Trust, spearheaded the project over the last year. She says a team of people from the Trust, the Amherst Community Foundation, and Amherst’s “Let’s Get a Playground Built” movement have been raising $350,000 needed to pay for the property, park development, and playground equipment.

The 3.9-acre park property is on Courthouse Road, on the south side of Amherst Village. It has been farmed for more than 100 years and is now owned by Susan and Scott Adams, who are selling at a “bargain sale” price of $150,000, $45,000 less than the appraised value.

Stepping forward with the “keystone” gift of $150,000 to launch the fundraising campaign for the park is Becky Ranes, mother of Joshua Savyon who died in 2013.

Wilkins said, “We are so grateful to Becky Ranes for underwriting the effort in honor of her son. Since losing the playground at Cemetery Field, the town has sorely needed a new park of this caliber.”

Amherst Community Foundation chairman Travis Warren added: “We see Joshua’s Park as a double win—a place for children to play and a place for adults to garden, walk, and sit. It’s the perfect community project, something for everyone.”

Amherst Land Trust board member and landscape architect Gordon Leedy has created a conceptual plan for the park. It preserves the farmland now worked by Tom Mitchell, adds a 10-place parking lot, fruit trees, and a playground well off the road in the shade of trees. Other details, and a color map, are on the park website, joshuaspark.org.

The park fundraising team has to date raised more than $200,000 in pledges. The “quiet phase” of the campaign, in which the team has been asking for large behind-the-scenes “leadership” donations of $10,000 to $50,000 is coming to a close. Wilkins and Warren have kicked off the public fundraising drive, building on tremendous momentum to date.