DCNR Secretary In Town Tuesday To Announce Grant For Upper Moreland Park Improvement

UPPER MORELAND, PA — State officials on Tuesday will be visiting the community to announce a grant to help with improvements at a local park.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced that Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn will be joining Upper Moreland Township Manager Matt Candland to announce a state investment in the rehabilitation of Farmstead Park, a 10-acre parcel located at 2668 Byberry Road that is home to four historic structures.

The grant amount will not be announced until Tuesday, but the dollars received will go toward other money the township has already received to put toward the improvements.

Farmstead Park is a site the township purchased around 20 years ago, according to Upper Moreland Township Director of Park and Recreation Patrick Stasio.

Stasio said at the time of the purchase, the township developed a master plan for the park, which includes a historic farmhouse, carriage house, barn and cottage.

The DCNR grant, Stasio said, will help with environmental improvements, water retention and water improvements, walking trail improvements and replacing invasive species with native species.

Stasio said the township already received previous grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for $335,000, from Montgomery County for $100,000 and from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission for $100,000.

The Montgomery County grant and the one from the PHMC will be used toward improvements to the historic structures at the park.

The total project cost for the improvement project is around $800,000.

Stasio said the improvement project is slated to get underway in the fall of 2022, and the timeline for completion is approximately six-to-nine months.

Stasio said the township partnered with the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust who were "instrumental in us getting these grants."

He said the township also partnered with the Farmstead Alliance, which is a group of local volunteers who help maintain the park's historic structures.

Dunn, the DCNR secretary, is expected to make the state grant presentation at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday.