Category Archives: Uncategorized

Join Us For Our Fall Park Clean Up Sat. 11/11/23 1-3 PM

As part of our seasonal park clean up and maintenance, we have scheduled a Cleanup and Mulching work session on the afternoon of November 11 starting at 1 PM. We invite all Friends of Barclay Park, neighbors and open space lovers to enjoy the outdoors and satisfying tasks. We also plan to plant a few small trees to enhance the park with more seasonal coloring. Please join us. If Saturday is too inclement, our rain date will be Sunday afternoon.  

Thanks for a Successful May Clean Up

On May 13th, a group of of board members and involved neighbors worked to tidy the park :  weeding, picking up and spreading wood chips around 24 of our younger trees. These tress were planted in recent years to add ornamental spring blossoms and fall color. We will be having a work session twice a year, Spring and Fall to maintain the park. Check back for additional information.

11-29-17 Bulb Planting Party

The BGPA received a generous donation of 3000 bulbs (Daffodils and Tulips) for Barclay Park from
Dutchgrown –https://www.dutchgrown.com/.
We need all the help we can get to get them into the ground. Please, join us for bulb planting on Saturday. Please, bring a shovel or spade for digging holes.

 

Saturday December 2nd 2017 from 2 pm -4 pm at Barclay Park

-11-5-2015 Why I support the preservation of the Barclay Grounds – by Senator Andy Dinniman

Why I Support the Preservation of the Barclay Grounds – by Senator Andrew Dinniman

It is local treasures like the Barclay Grounds that allow the Borough of West Chester to be beautiful and bustling at the same time.

That is why I worked so hard to secure $700,000 in state funding for the Grounds’ preservation, and why we must continue our work to help secure the remaining $147,000 needed.

It takes special commitment to preserve a community’s historic and natural resources at the same time it is bursting at the seams. West Chester’s past leaders and residents deserve great credit for preserving the Barclay Grounds from the mid-1860’s all the way through the 20th Century.

When the latest proposal to develop the Grounds surfaced in 2012, it was obvious we had an obligation to both our predecessors and our successors to stand up for the Grounds and preserve them for good.

For five decades I have driven into West Chester and been greeted by the wonderful sycamore and oaks, birches, poplars and maples that frame North High Street and make the Barclay Grounds the most beautiful of open spaces. Each and every time I arrive it is a wonderful reminder of why the Arbor Day Foundation annually bestows its “Tree City” award upon West Chester.

But the Grounds do so much more than please the eye. The 150-year-old specimen trees help me imagine what life was like back in the 1860’s.  I think of the property when John Rutter first turned it into a nursery; and after the Civil War, when Joshua Hartshorne rode his horse through the wrought-iron gates that remain to this day, past the saplings he planted and right to the door of his mansion.

As a historian, I am inspired by all who walked the Barclay Grounds. I think of those who lived there after the property became “The Barclay Home,” a Quaker boarding home for seniors in the mid-1930’s. I am reminded of the veterans who came home after World War II and undoubtedly took pleasure in the shade beneath its trees. I think of the Barclay Grounds’ many neighbors and residents who take joy in its peaceful nature every day.

It was with all this in mind that I convened Barclay Grounds supporters on the first floor of my North Church Street office nearly two years ago.

Since then the process of saving the Barclay Grounds has been like assembling pieces in a complex jigsaw puzzle. But we all got involved knowing it wouldn’t be easy.

Throughout its history, the Barclay Grounds has too often been threatened by development, with residents and friends thwarting such efforts each time. Once, a resident reportedly even stood in front of a bulldozer and said, “Over my dead body.”

It is time the Barclay Grounds receives a permanent lease on life, and we are now just $147,000 away from the finish line. With your continued help we can cross it together.

Thank you, Andy Dinniman

– 12/9/2014 Another big win for the campaign to Save the Barclay Grounds

I am delighted to inform you of another big win in the campaign to preserve the Barclay Grounds. Yesterday the Chester County Commissioners voted unanimously to increase the County’s grant for the Barclay Grounds from the $125K that they awarded earlier this year … to $250K.

We have now raised more than $1 million dollars in the past 12 months to preserve the Barclay Grounds – and are within reach of raising the $1.2 million needed to complete the purchase!!!

This is a tremendous accomplishment and something that we should all be very proud of. Please know that, as with previous votes, the presence of BGPA supporters in the meeting room was important – as were the many e-mails that you collectively sent to the Commissioners. Commissioner Costello – who Chaired his last two meetings of the County Commissioners yesterday, as he has resigned in order to take up his new role as the US Congressman for this area – told me how important the e-mails were in helping him make his decision to increase the grant. He also complimented us, as a group, for having run such an effective and responsible public advocacy campaign on behalf of the Barclay Grounds.

Of course we did not accomplish all this alone and I would like to express my gratitude for all their hard work on this issue to State Senator Andy Dinniman and his staff; State Representative Dan Truitt, Mayor Carolyn Comitta; Council President Jordan Norley and the West Chester Borough Council (especially Bill Scott, in whose Ward the Barclay Grounds is situated); the Brandywine Conservancy; the Natural Lands Trust; and last but not least the new Borough Manager, Michael Cotter.

So, now that the State and the County have really come through, it is time for all of us, as supporters of the BGPA, to make good on our commitment to raise up to $200K. As we enter the final weeks of the tax year it is an ideal time for you to think about making a donation to the BGPA (which now has 501(c)3 status), as donations made before 12/31/14 may be deductible on your 2014 tax return. You can make a donation using a credit card or an existing PayPal account by copying the link below and pasting it into the address line of your web-browser. If you prefer to pay by check, the directions for where to send your check, are also included on the page at this address.

https://www.savethebarclaygrounds.org/donations/

We can think of the campaign to SaveTheBarclayGrounds as having three major phases. The first phase was to raise awareness, mobilize the community, halt the development and encourage the council to buy the property. The second was to maximize the County and State grant awards. We are now entering the third phase – to raise sufficient funding to meet our commitment to the Borough and help it complete the purchase. We have been successful with the first two components – and working together I know we will be successful with the third.

Best wishes,

John

John Cottage
President, The Barclay Grounds Preservation Alliance (BGPA)

– 12/5/2014 County Commissioners to vote on whether to increase Barclay grant this Monday

Dear Friend of the Barclay Grounds,

At the Chester County Commissioners’ meeting on Monday (December 8th) the Commissioners will consider whether or not to increase their grant award for the purchase and preservation of the Barclay Grounds.
You may recall that earlier this year the Commissioners granted the Borough $125K towards the Barclay Grounds purchase (vs the $500K that the Borough had requested; and the $250K that the County’s Director of Open Space Preservation had recommended). In making the award the Commissioners made it clear how much they had appreciated receiving – and were influenced by – the many e-mails sent to them in support of funding the Barclay Grounds. Commissioner Farrell (who initially appeared set to vote against providing any funding) noted that the e-mails helped to convince him that the Commissioners should make an exception for the Barclay Grounds to their general philosophy of only funding open space preservation in the townships and only funding infrastructure projects in the Boroughs.

The Commissioners also noted that the Borough could return later this year to request more money if the Commissioners felt that the Borough had put more “skin in the game”. With the recent Borough Council vote (5-0) to send a letter of confirmation to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) that it would guarantee a match for the DCNR grant of $600K – as well as working towards establishing new sources of revenue (e.g. the Commercial Recreation Fee In Lieu) that could be used to fund part of the Barclay Grounds purchase, I believe the Borough has made a good faith effort to meet the Commissioners’ request.

I hope that the Commissioners will grant additional money for the Barclay on Monday – but I believe that their decision will rest on their perception of the amount of public support for the project. So I am writing to ask you make a phone call, or send an e-mail, to each of the Commissioners (see their contact information below) before Monday’s 10 am meeting to let them know your position on the importance of preserving the Barclay Grounds.

As with most public officials they place a lot of weight on visible support at their meetings. So, if possible, please also come to the meetings on Monday in the Commissioner’s Board Room (313 West Market Street, West Chester, PA 19380) to demonstrate your support. The first meeting of the day (the “Sunshine Meeting”) is the one where your presence would probably have the most impact. This will be held at 10:00 am and is a meeting to obtain public comment on issues (although there will be no voting on those issues during the meeting). The second meeting (the “Commissioners’ Meeting”) will be held at 1:30 pm. This is when they will actually vote on issues.

Thank you for your continued support of preserving the Barclay Grounds as a new park for the Borough of West Chester.

Best wishes,

John
Commissioner Ryan Costello
313 West Market Street
Suite 6202
West Chester, PA 19380
610.344.6100
610.344.5995 (fax)
rcostello@chesco.org

Commissioner Kathi Cozzone
313 West Market Street
Suite 6202
West Chester, PA 19380
610.344.6100
610.344.5995 (fax)
kcozzone@chesco.org

Commissioner Terence Farrell
313 West Market Street
Suite 6202
West Chester, PA 19380
610.344.6100
610.344.5995 (fax)
tfarrell@chesco.org

– 11/26/14 DCNR Grants West Chester $600K to Preserve the Barclay Grounds

Dear Friend of the Barclay Grounds,

I am delighted to share with you the exciting news that the PA DCNR has confirmed it will grant $600K to the Borough of West Chester specifically for the purchase and preservation of the Barclay Grounds. DCNR stands for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

When added to the other two grants received this year for the Barclay Grounds ($125K from Chester County; $100K from the PA Department of Community and Economic Development) the total comes to $825K. When the $200K commitment from the Barclay Grounds Preservation Alliance (BGPA) is added to this it takes the total raised to date to $1.025 million. This puts the successful preservation of the Barclay Grounds as a new Borough of West Chester park well within reach.

We hope you will come out to celebrate with us tomorrow by participating in the BGPA’s first annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. It will be a fun and energizing 3-mile walk that begins at the beautiful and historic Barclay Grounds (corner of N. Church and W. Marshall) and leads through the streets of West Chester, visiting Marshall Square Park, Everhart Park and neighborhoods along the way. Well-behaved dogs on a leash are welcome to join in the fun. Bring your thermos cups – as coffee, hot chocolate and donut holes will be provided.

There is no “entry fee” but we ask that you make a monetary donation in an amount of your own choosing – so that the Barclay Grounds and events like these will be here for years to come.
For more information or to register in advance and/or buy a commemorative 2014 Turkey Trot T-Shirt visit https://www.savethebarclaygrounds.org/west-chester-turkey-trot-2014/

Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving. I look forward to seeing you at the “Turkey Trot”.

John