Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993 TAG: 9307160148
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
Wildwood Park is the name of this 35-acre preserve, a V-shaped valley drained by Connellys Run.
It's a compact, wooded haven for birds, small game and wildflowers only a five-minute walk from Radford's business district.
Still, you won't find many people in Wildwood Park, because it's a jungle of vines, weeds and scrub brush.
The park has scarcely been maintained for more than a decade. Trails and bridges are overgrown, eroded or rotten.
This little lost world has been a lost opportunity for Radford - but that might change in the coming months.
If a new cooperative effort by the city's Recreation Department and Radford University succeeds, Wildwood Park will be made accessible and rewarding for anyone seeking a natural respite.
With a $4,600 federal grant, students and citizens will have the chance to get their hands dirty reclaiming the park.
"It's going to be a task. But we're looking forward to it," said Richard McWhorter, a Radford University professor.
Ken Goodyear, city recreation director, said the goal is to give the community a sense of involvement in the park - so it doesn't go to seed again.
But recreation funds for a community with high unemployment will continue to be tight. So the city wants adult service organizations and individual volunteers to get involved in the fix-up.
"We want the community to have a sense of ownership over the park," said McWhorter.
Already, Goodyear said, the Radford Rotary Club and the New River Valley birdwatchers' group have expressed interest.
Until the 1960s, when the municipal pool there was closed, Wildwood Park was an active place.
Since then, the community has looked across Norwood Street for recreation, to the newer, wide-open spaces of Bisset Park.
In 1980, a halting effort was made to develop Wildwood. Trails were laid out, cleared and blazed by a youth conservation crew funded by the state.
Yet after the crew left, a lack of money dictated that only "very limited" funds be appropriated for Wildwood's upkeep, said Robert Asbury, Radford city manager.
Bisset Park absorbed most of the city's recreation budget, while Wildwood Park grew wilder with each passing season.
McWhorter recalls taking his family on nature walks in Wildwood during the early 1980s. "We really enjoyed it. But we stopped coming. It just got too overgrown," he said.
The rebirth of the park began during discussion between representatives of the city and the university.
Gerri Glass, director of RU's Service-Learning Center, who will coordinate the university's participation, successfully applied for the grant in May.
Start to finish, the planned refurbishment is estimated to cost about $19,500. The $4,600 grant will cover supplies and equipment. The rest of the cost will be absorbed by in-kind services donated by the university and the city.
McWhorter and Goodyear say they plan to kick off the project at an organizational meeting next month. The date, time and location are to be announced.
McWhorter said he hopes to involve Radford University students from several academic departments and service organizations.
"It's a great opportunity for students to put to use what they've learned," he said. "It will be like an outdoor laboratory."
Each semester, McWhorter assigns his students to draw up theoretical Wildwood Park development plans, for a grade rather than for real.
That will change this fall. They'll create a plan for the park to include a redesigned, self-guided trail system, sections of which will be handicapped accessible.
Next, students and community volunteers will rebuild the trails and several foot bridges and lop the scrub vegetation.
The fierce thunderstorms of June 4 complicated matters by felling large trees across park trails. They will have to be cut and removed, Goodyear said.
Wildwood Park also contains a cave whose entrance was blocked by the city to prevent vandalism.
Goodyear said the renovation will include replacing the permanent obstruction with a locked gate to allow access by experienced cavers or trained group leaders.
Completion is planned for April.
Goodyear said the city recognizes that Wildwood Park can't be left alone as it was after the 1980 work. The goal is to make it a haven for citizens who want time in a woodlands sanctuary.
Large groups or rowdier recreational pursuits will continue to be more appropriate at Bisset Park, Goodyear said.
Ideally, the new Wildwood Park will be a harmonious natural environment, a mid-city break from asphalt and business suits.
The other value of the project, Goodyear said, will be to enhance harmonious relations between the cooperative partners, the city and the university.
by CNB