Siebert Park is a 60-acre community park owned by Camp Hill Borough, Cumberland County. The park offers active recreational assets including a swimming pool, tennis courts, soccer field, volleyball and tennis courts, and a cabin used for community meetings.
The park is a great example of how communities can leverage the many benefits of parks and trails to apply for multiple grants.
In one recent project, the borough focused at first on a new kayak launch along the Conodoguinet Creek Water Trail. They planned on using grant funding from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC). But after discussing the project with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the borough realized they could go further.
The borough added a 1/2-mile paved, wooded, accessible path from the pool parking lot to the new kayak launch. Along the path, the borough restored a streambank to mitigate flooding and improve water quality.
This expanded project let the borough apply for a DCNR grant, using the PFBC funds as match.
When designing your next park or trail project, consider whether there are opportunities to support stream bank restoration at the same time. Apart from making the project attractive to more funders, the result can be an enhanced user experience. In Siebert Park’s case, that experience now includes more walking, biking, wildlife viewing, and creek access.
