Holly Ravine Farm Purchase Reaches Final Steps In Cherry Hill

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The next step toward finalizing Cherry Hill's purchase of Holly Ravine Farm is now complete.

Township Council members voted Monday to authorize the acquisition of the farm property that was an epicenter for family memories. The township plans to preserve the historic farmland as open space.

In September, the township announced an agreement in principle to purchase the land from the Gilmour family. Council members voted Sept. 26 to approve the purchase during the ordinance's first reading and then did so again during the second reading on Monday.

Both votes were unanimous for the $3,859,000 acquisition.

The passage on the second reading makes the ordinance official. The township is on track to close on the property in the first week of January, according to Council President and Mayor-Elect David Fleisher.

Once home to the Cowtail Bar ice cream parlor, Holly Ravine Farm brought fond memories to generations of residents and visitors. Often considered a relic of Cherry Hill's agrarian past, the 23-acre property represents one of the bustling suburb's largest green spaces.

Martha Wright, a Cherry Hill resident, praised the plan to preserve the farmland.

"It is absolutely essential," Wright said at Monday's meeting. "Open space provides respite for human beings. It also provides habitat for wildlife. This is just such an important move for Cherry Hill and for Camden County."

The Gilmour family has owned the dairy farm for generations. John C. Gilmour Jr. — a dairy farmer who later became Cherry Hill's mayor — established the Cowtail Bar in 1933. Between the ice cream shop and the 1964 addition of the Moo Zoo, Holly Ravine Farm stood as a longtime family favorite in the region.

After the Cowtail Bar closed in the 1980s, the farm remained John and Eva Gilmour's home. John died in 1993. When Eva died in 2011, the family decided to try and preserve the property.

But several obstacles interfered, with the New Jersey Farm Preservation Committee and the township previously declining to preserve the land, according to Robert Gilmour, son of John and Eva.

With two preservation attempts failing, the family put the property on the market. But the township had blocked past potential sales out of concerns about adding traffic to the area.

Efforts to preserve Holly Ravine Farm hit a pivotal juncture earlier this year, when Caddis hoped to build the senior-living complex. The proposal sparked an outcry from members of the public hoping to preserve the farm. Ultimately, the Cherry Hill Zoning Board had concerns and rejected Caddis Healthcare Real Estate's application last spring.

The 23-acre property is located at the intersection of Evesham and Springdale Roads.