Quann Park In Malvern Gets Facelift

MALVERN, PA —The Horace J. Quann Memorial Park in downtown Malvern is being spruced up this summer thanks to $326,334 in state and local grants.

The work began in July and is expected to be complete in early September.

The 1.6-acre park, located across the street from borough hall at the corner of First and Warren avenues, provides residents with baseball, basketball, volleyball areas and open space to relax.

The upgrades include sidewalk and curbing, new fencing around the baseball field, replacement steps, a rain garden, and tree plantings.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources provided $113,779 in grants, according to borough officials.

History of park

According to the Malvern Historic Commission:

Horace J. Quann started out working for his father's store, Rittenhouse Brothers Market, Wayne.

He moved to Malvern in 1928, where he assisted his father in a greenhouse business, and later worked in accounting.

In 1934, he became a clerk for Suplee Hardway Company in Malvern. Quann eventually became the owner and charged the name to "Horace J. Quann Hardware."

He operated the store until 1986.

Quann did more than just sell hardware to "Malvernites."

He was part of the Malvern Business and Professional Service, which named him "Business Person of the Year" in 1978.

He was a choir member, Sunday school teacher and deacon at First Baptist Church, and Boy Scout master of Troop 7.

After his death at age 87 in 1999, Malvern remembered Quann by dedicating the Horace J. Quann Memorial Park.

"It's a place where boys and young men like to play basketball," the commission wrote on its Facebook page. "That probably would have pleased Mr. Quann a lot."