City of Newark announced that construction on tCurtis Mill Park on Paper Mill Road has begun after a delay due to snow.
The latest addition to the city’s parks is scheduled to be open late this summer. Construction will include a park entrance at the existing traffic light at Paper Mill and Old Paper Mill Roads, minor improvements to Paper Mill Road and traffic signals, a 12 to 15 car parking lot, a plaza that will contain kiosks with educational and interpretive information and photographs of the former paper mill, a meadow, landscaping and internal walkways.
The city salvaged a large number of bricks from the smoke stack that once stood on the property and will be used in the construction of the plaza area.
Curtis Mill Park will be a passive park with the parking lot also serving as a trail head for the Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail located just south of the park.
City Manager Carol Houck was an Assistant to the City Manager when Newark purchased the former Curtis Paper Mill in 1999. Its proximity to the city’s water plant and the waterway made it an attractive property.
“Early efforts to have the site certified as a Brownfield were successful and opened the door for Newark to receive up to $1 million for remediation efforts,” said Houck. “I am happy to say that when the project is completed, we will have likely been reimbursed the full $1 million for which we are eligible. These funds were crucial to our ability to beautify the location and complete the overall project of which DNREC’s guidance and technical support was extremely valuable. It took 15 years, but the final product, including intersection improvements at Old Paper Mill Road, will be well worth taking the time to get it right.”
“It’s great to finally see shovels in the ground at Newark’s newest park,” said Newark Parks and Recreation Director Charlie Emerson. “This project required a great deal of planning and coordination with various State and local agencies. In addition, I was very pleased with the support we received from the citizens of Newark and our City Council while completing the project’s master plan in 2010. I really want to thank our consultant, Pennoni Associates, the good people at DelDOT and DNREC, and city staff for their time, energy and expertise. When completed we will have converted an industrial brown field site to a pleasant passive creek side park.”
Construction should be completed at or about the end of August. Landscaping is expected to take place after construction is completed. Residents can expect increased construction traffic around the site as well as road improvements being made. The road improvement work will occur in June and July.
“The development of Curtis Mill Park is a tremendous benefit to our City,” said Newark Mayor Polly Sierer. “It provides additional park and recreational opportunities for individuals and families to exercise, relax and enjoy the outdoors in a beautiful setting. Thank you to all of our partners in the collaboration of this project, including city staff, DNREC, contractors, and our citizens.”
