The Nemours Foundation has donated nearly 46 acres of forestland to the DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation’s Alapocas Run State Park, located just outside Wilmington.
The announcement was made by Gov. Jack Markell, DNREC Secretary David Small and Dr. Roy Proujansky, the Nemours Foundation’s chief executive of Delaware Valley Operations.
“Alapocas Run State Park is truly an amazing urban oasis to be enjoyed not only by the residents of Wilmington but also for visitors from the tri-state area and beyond,” said Markell. “This generous donation by the Nemours Foundation, along with newly upgraded trails, will enable more people to experience the beauty and benefits of nature close to where they live and work, strengthening our quality of life while supporting continued economic growth.”
“Alfred I. du Pont understood the healing and therapeutic benefits of nature, for both children and their families,” said Proujansky. “As stewards of Mr. du Pont’s legacy, it is fitting then that these lands be transferred to the state of Delaware and improved for the enjoyment of the community. We applaud Governor Markell and his administration for their continued partnership and tireless efforts to promote healthy living and a more walkable and bikeable Delaware.”
In addition to the land donation, a section of the Northern Delaware Greenway Trail (part of the East Coast Greenway trail that goes from Maine to Florida) and a section of the Bancroft Trail have been upgraded to a paved surface, providing more accessibility and more year-round use, a release from DNREC stated.
The two upgraded trail sections total about one mile. The Greenway Trail goes through Nemours Woods and connects the Delaware River to Brandywine Creek, passing through Bellevue State Park to Bringhurst Woods and Rockwood county parks to Wilmington’s Rock Manor Golf Course to Alapocas Run State Park.
The Bancroft Trail connects Alapocas Run State Park to Brandywine Park and the Brandywine Zoo. It passes through the Brandywine Park Condominiums, Wilmington Friends School and the Augustine Professional Building properties. These owners generously granted a trail easement through their lands in the 2000s.
Nemours’ donation is part of a working partnership with Delaware State Parks that dates back more than 20 years. In the 1990s, a collaborative effort was launched to protect more public open space land along Brandywine Creek and around Wilmington, by combining the resources of the city, county, state and the newly-created Delaware Greenways.
Through the state’s Open Space Program, Alapocas Run State Park got under way with an acquisition and land donation along Brandywine Creek. The state also assumed management of some city-owned parkland. At the same time the state, county, and city came together, along with the business community and area residents, to tackle a complex plan to realign Route 202 while maintaining the Rock Manor Golf Course and keeping and expanding the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical business in its current location, the release.
During this period, Nemours and the Nemours Foundation were key players in many aspects of the overall project.
Not only did Nemours continue to run the Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children and the Nemours Mansion & Gardens, but the Nemours Foundation also provided land for a day care center for the AstraZeneca employees and road expansion. The foundation also provided information on the historic Blue Ball Barn, formerly part of the A.I. du Pont estate, now owned by Delaware State Parks.
A critical recreation component of this complicated project was a connection from Blue Ball Barn to Brandywine Creek through the Nemours Woods. This area was always recognized as an important landscape feature, protected and maintained by the A.I. du Pont family and then the Nemours Foundation. In 1999 the Nemours Foundation donated a conservation easement of more than 70 acres of this wooded area. It ensured that the area would not be developed and enabled a public use trail. The most recent announcement reflects the donation of 46 of these acres the state while retaining the remaining 24 acres under conservation easement, the release noted.
