Plans to develop a small park recalling Freeport’s past as a port on the Pennsylvania Canal are moving forward.
Two members of the Freeport Renaissance Association, Karen Lindbergh and Mary Bowlin, outlined plans for the Canal Park to Freeport Council last week.
Lindbergh, the association’s vice president, presented a rough illustration showing the proposed layout of the park. She said it will be located on a vacant lot owned by the borough at High and Second streets.
The location is not far from the confluence of Buffalo Creek and the Allegheny River, a major part of the old Pennsylvania Canal.
The Pennsylvania Canal was a system of canals and, later, rail lines designed to move people and freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The first part of the Western Division Canal was authorized by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1826 and went from Pittsburgh along the Allegheny to where it met the Kiski River at Freeport.
Canal extensions from Freeport to Kittanning and from Freeport to the Conemaugh River and Blairsville were added later.
Bowlin pointed to one corner of the park design, which shows the outline of a boat hull. She said it would be a ground-level stone structure representing packer boats used on the canal to serve as a reminder of the borough’s historic link to it.
Lindbergh said the park will include a winding walkway, benches, plantings, flower beds, a park pavilion in the center and parking for five cars.
Referring to the plantings and flower beds, Lindbergh said, “Everything is going to have a seasonal color so that, when you come into Freeport, it will be very dynamic.”
Lindbergh said the park also will include a carved statue of an angel “to give it some character.”
The cost of the project is estimated at about $30,000 and has financial support from donors who wish to remain anonymous. She said grant money also is being sought to help finance the park’s development.
“We’re hoping to complete it next year, that’s our goal,” Lindbergh said.
