$14.5 million planned on NCCo parks

New Castle County is planning to spend nearly $14.5 million improving its four largest parks over the next three years.

About half of the money is going to renovations to current amenities. The planned renovations at the county’s major parks are a piece of a $11.9 million plan for improvements across the county’s park system this year alone. That includes renovations to smaller parks and some money that will be held for future park projects.

The annual budget for parks improvements has increased each year since a $1.8 million allocation in 2013’s budget. County Council sought to rein in spending on parks projects last year leading to some improvements being shelved and spread over more years.

The county’s $59 million capital spending plan for this year, which outlines one-time expenditures for things like park improvements and sewer infrastructure, passed with no opposition from County Council in May. It was a $1.3 million increase over last year’s capital spending.

The spending comes at a time when state government is dealing with shortfalls. County officials decried a proposal in June to shift real estate transfer tax money from local coffers to the state. The move would have cost New Castle County between $8 million and $10 million annually, according to county officials.

County Executive Tom Gordon defended the parks improvements as one-time expenditures that increase the quality of life for county residents.

“The main thing is, we cannot afford to put any more stress on the operating budget and we are not going to raise taxes. But you have to put priority on what our citizens want,” Gordon said.

The most expensive project will be at Glasgow Regional Park off Pulaski Highway.

On Saturday, one side of the park was filled with the drumbeats of a Ghanaian cultural celebration. At one park pavilion, family and friends were celebrating the life of Ira Hopkins who was shot to death in Bear last year. At another pavilion, there was a birthday celebration a short distance from a family reunion.

The county is spending nearly $7.7 million over the next three years improving the park’s ability to host events. The largest expense is turning a series of rundown, historic barns, a shed and a farmhouse known as the Hermitage into an amenity to host farmers markets and other events. Money is also being spent on more parking and restrooms.

The county purchased the park property for $15 million in 2003.

“I don’t know where people who live here went before this park,” said Bear resident Dori Roarty as she walked around the park’s track. “I don’t know if we need [the barn renovations] ... There are so many people out here exercising, the park could use athletic fields like soccer fields.”

Earlier this year, some of the old barns were torn down. Work this year will include building a restroom facility and renovating the exterior of the historic farmhouse, said Stephen D. Ruble, project administrator for the county.

The county is also renovating and adding handicap accessibility to the largest barn on the complex, as the future home for indoor events. The next two years will see other, smaller barns on the property restored and more parking added.

On Saturday, Sharon Walker brought her three grandchildren to the playground to “tire them out.”

“I’d like to see them bring more of a variety of things, educational things for kids to do,” said Walker, who lives in Bear.

The county will also spend $1.5 million at Carousel Park’s Equestrian Center on Limestone Road this year. The center is home to the horses of the County Police’s mounted division. The park hosts horse riding lessons, trail-riding, competitions and other equestrian activities administered by the county, said Regina Marini, county administrator for the park.

An indoor riding arena and horse barn that support those activities are in disrepair, Marini said.

A secondary barn that houses the park’s training horses will be torn down and replaced by a larger barn that includes space for more horses, hay storage and better misting system for the horses, Marini said. The barn will cost about $500,000.

An indoor riding arena will be the subject of $1 million in renovations for its roof, walls, bleachers and electrical system, Ruble said.

Earlier this month, the county reopened the bark park at Carousel after a $157,000 upgrade.

“When you talk about the money, I guess it depends on exactly what you spend the money on ... But people have to get out and take advantage of it,” said Newport-area resident Don Barksdale, who took his two dogs and children to the bark park.

At Rockwood Park on Shipley Road, the county has $3.1 million allocated in the capital improvements budget over the next two years to renovate buildings in the park. The park is home to Rockwood Mansion, which serves as a museum administered by the county.

Gordon said much of the spending at Rockwood and Carousel parks is necessitated by neglect he said occurred between when he left office in 2004 and returned in 2012.

“[The mansion] was just let to run down. It was pristine when I left it [in 2004]. When I came back in it was rotted. It is a shame that $45,000 in paint could have saved that,” Gordon said.

The renovations include replacing rotting wood on the exterior of the mansion and reworking plaster inside the building, Ruble said. The winter garden, an indoor area attached to the mansion, and gardener’s cottage will also have roof and wall repairs.

Next year, the county will start a total renovation of the park’s conservatory, a large greenhouse attached to the mansion, Ruble said. The county will also partially renovate a collapsed stone structure that was a playhouse on the estate. It is currently fenced off, according to Jon Husband. a manager for the County’s Special Services department.

The county also has $2.1 million allocated to its “flagship” Delcastle Recreational Park off McKennans Church Road for the next two years. County Special Services General Manager Wayne Merritt said the park is the county’s most developed with several types of athletic fields. The money will be used to repave the parking lot this year and replace the electrical system that lights the athletic fields next year, he said.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.