Got Space?

This is a satellite image of Nazareth (thanks to Zillow.com) from Church Street on the far left to New Street on the far right with Center across the top. Can you quess where Hall Park is on the photo? Here's a hint: The only other visible green space is that occupied by the Whitfield House.

"Location, Location, Location" addressed one aspect of the New Government Center and This Old Home examined renovation. Now "Got Space?" will tackle building new.

The current proposal is to build new. The location selected is at "Nazareth Hall Park". And the scope of the total project is 12,000 square feet, with roughly 10,000 being new and 2,000 a renovation of the existing Council Chambers.

"Nazareth Hall Park" houses a baseball field, playing fields, and the former Nazareth Library that now serves as the Borough Council Meeting Chambers. It is located at Church, Center, and Green Streets. Immediately to the north of the park across E. Center Street is the site where the Nazareth Military Academy trained, as I was once told, more generals in the Civil War than any other military institution - including West Point.

The facility and the location are at the heart of the debate regarding the proposal to build at the park as opposed to renovating the existing building at 30 Belvidere. As I noted in my previous post, the first questions ought to be Location, Location, Location (read here).

The Nazareth Council was adament about becoming the first municipality to support the Nazareth Area Council of Governments 2030 plan (read it here). They made the item the first one to vote on the evening it was approved and Councilman Michael Davis was an advocate of doing so, he is also the chairperson of the committee recommending this building proposal. Two statements from the document that was approved support renovation over new building:

The opening statement of the document:

The Nazareth Area … 2030 Multimunicipal Comprehensive Plan is a vision of the future of the ten municipalities in the Nazareth Area that places special importance on the preservation of natural features, farmland, open space and historic resources.

Regarding Parks:

Nazareth has little opportunity to add to its existing park acreage and will have to get by with the parks it already possesses. This should not be a problem as long as the current park system is maintained and upgraded as needed. Most of the borough’s baseball and softball fields need improvement.

The best time to preserve open space is early in a community's history. Ben Franklin is credited with planning an abundance of parks in Philadephia at a time when it was reasonably easy to do. President Teddy Roosevelt's conservation efforts were engaged nearly too late being done so as a result of witnessning the loss and destruction of game and natural lands. Today's attempt to preserve open space is quite literally a last ditch effort to hold on to every remaining piece possible without impeding individual's rights.

Yes, individuals are still selling and developing land at a rapid pace in the townships and given the strong desire to live in our community it seems most parcels of land that are able to be subdivided and developed are. I can't blame people for selling. There is too much money at stake at a time when it is increasingly difficult to live here economically.

But, to develop public park land in a landlocked, maybe 2.5 square mile area, is irresponsible.

The simple fact is we don't have any more space. The question is what do we do with with what we have. The answer ought to be as simple. We protect what we can.

If you do build new, then you need to address the existing facility. "30 Belvidere" is the former fire company building that now houses the Nazareth Police Department and Borough Administration. The Borough will need to sell the property and given its unique and historic place in the community there will be a strong desire by many to have it preserved and not converted to residential space.

So what do you think? Does Nazareth have enough space to build on green space? Is it the responsibility of our government body to abide by their own declaration of preserving open space and maintaining its existing parks?