Chester Heights now has 40 acres of preserved land because of a plan launched five years ago by its former mayor, Fred Wood, writes Frank Kummer for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Wood died in 2024, but not before setting into motion a plan to save a 40.2-acre tract of land from development at Valleybrook and Smithbridge roads.
Natural Lands and the Borough of Chester Heights announced March 27 the land was purchased for $3.4 million and will remain open space.
“We did it, Fred,” current Chester Heights Mayor Gina Ellis said.
Ellis said when the former mayor floated the idea of buying the property, “it felt like a Herculean task.”
The borough is only 2.2 square miles, or roughly 1,500 acres, with a budget of $4.2 million, so raising $3.4 million would be difficult.
Anonymous donors got things started with $750,000. Additional grant funding secured by Natural Lands, including a $1.9 million federal grant, moved the effort along.
Natural Lands tapped Delaware County, the National Park Service, the state, and the Nature Conservancy to make the purchase possible.
The borough of about 2,900 residents eventually plans to build low-impact trails on the land.
Read more about how this land preservation project got started in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
