Garden Journal - Parking Lot Disaster!
This evening I've received shocking news...The "Streetscape Committee", who is developing a plan to "beautify" and "enhance" the streets, sidewalks, etc. of Berkeley Springs, is proposing that a PARKING LOT be built on the Independence Street side of Highspire!
The PARKING LOT is shown in RED below:
Over the last several months, a series of public meetings has been held for the general public and "stakeholders" (property owners, businesspersons) to collect information and opinions about how the citizens would like Berkeley Springs town to look. I have attended ALL of the meetings, filled out the surveys, participated in the discussions, talked with the architects, etc. as expected. NEVER in any of those meetings was the POSSIBILITY of a new parking lot on Wilkes Street EVER discussed, but most certainly NO ONE EVER said anything about destroying the Gardens at Highspire to build a PARKING LOT.
The Chairman of the Streetscape Committee said to me that bulldozing part of the Gardens at Highspire would be a "small sacrifice on your part for the greater good of the town"!!!! She also said that EVERY businessowner, resident and visitor would support a parking lot at Highspire. I DO NOT AND CANNOT BELIEVE THAT IS TRUE!!
Below is the way Highspire and the Gardens at Highspire appears today.
As you can see, if the parking lot is built Highspire will lose:
- three-fourths of the Rose Garden
- The ENTIRE Xeriscape Garden
- The ENTIRE Reflection Garden
- ALL of the mature trees on the Independence Street side of Highspire (including my Yoshino Cherry tree)
- ALL of the mature shrubs (flowering quince, forsythia, honeysuckle and boxwoods on the Independence Street side of Highspire
- And the 85+ year old maple near the end of the Wilkes Street stone wall (disruption to the established root system will kill this tree)
There is irony in the fact that at the final large public meeting to discuss the Streetscape Project, the architects presented oversized fancy display boards showing the features of Berkeley Springs to be "enhanced", "featured" and "beautified" by the new streetscape. They featured Highspire in a big 8x10 glossy photograph!! AND their photo was taken from the exact same location that now will be DESTROYED!
We will fight this madness to the end! The public NEVER had a chance to comment on the creation of this parking lot and forcing it on the citizens IS NOT ACCEPTABLE and will not be tolerated! This land has been Greenspace since Highspire was built in 1894 -- 114 years ago. I WILL NOT surrender 114 years of Greenspace and Gardens to the bulldozer. My family purchased Highspire on June 1, 1977 -- 31 years ago. I WILL NOT give up the beauty for a parking lot that is not needed. This is NOT for the "greater good". This is a tragedy in the making and I will give my ALL to SAVE HIGHSPIRE GARDENS!!
