Lindberg Park Improvement Plan Gets Green Light

The Lindberg Park improvement plan will be able to proceed now that Lehigh County commissioners finally agreed to release a $160,000 grant from the long-stalled Green Future Fund.

Salisbury Township officials were frustrated because the county had promised the money, which they need in order to apply for additional money from the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The county money sets in motion Salisbury's plan to pursue the first phase of a $2 million project to improve Lindberg Park over 10 years. The first phase is expected to cost $341,000 and includes which will connect to a trail to the Little Lehigh Parkway, native plant buffer and a chainlink fence installed along the ballfield.

"We fought hard to get money for the Green Future Grant," said Township Manager Randy Soriano.

The trail could be finished in 2014, Soriano said.

The improvements to the 40-year-old park would be phased in over time and include:

• a 3/4-mile-long bituminous walking trail around the perimeter of the park.
• cross-walks
• natural buffers and fencing
• improvements to the baseball field, including a new backstop, bullpen, batting cages and a storage shed
• renovated pavilion and restrooms
• multi-purpose lawn area
• secondary pathways, vegetated swales and rain gardens
• resting pads and benches along pathways
• nature playground
• a dedicated bike lane on the north side of Lindberg Avenue
• new signs and kiosks
• natural elements that include more native plants and the eradication of invasive species
• a drop-off area in the parking lot
• tranquility garden
• pickleball courts

The remaining 10 phases could cost about $100,000 each and take about two years per project, according to URDC landscape architects Joanne Conley and Len Policelli, who unveiled the design at a public meeting in December.