Calsonic
Kansei Provides Initial Donation and Challenge
Following
the 20-year Vision Plan for Lewisburg released earlier this year, the Friends
of Lewisburg Parks is forming to address the parks and green space in the city
and has made plans to begin with improvements to Rock Creek Park.
The
Vision Plan highlighted the Lewisburg Parks and Recreation system as an asset
to the community and that preserving and building upon this asset should take
place over the next 20 years. The Friends of Lewisburg Parks is a group of
volunteers in cooperation with officials from the City of Lewisburg to create a
public and private partnership to improve upon the parks system in Lewisburg
beginning with the Rock Creek Park project.
Officials
with Calsonic Kansei North America became involved in the project and saw the
opportunity to give back to Lewisburg to celebrate their 30th Anniversary
in Lewisburg. Discussions between company officials, the city and the Friends
of Lewisburg Parks developed into a plan to improve Rock Creek Park as an
initial project that the groups hope to grow into more projects in other parks
and green spaces throughout the city.
The
City of Lewisburg hired HFR Design to develop an improvement plan for Rock
Creek Park that includes underground utilities, tiered seating along the
hillside, stage improvements and other upgrades to be completed in phases over
the next year. The plan was presented to officials at CKNA and the company
offered an initial donation and a challenge to its fellow industries in
Lewisburg.
“Calsonic
Kansei North America announces that the company will offer the first $50,000
for the Rock Creek Park project in honor of its 30th Anniversary of
operating in Lewisburg,” said Erich Huch, Chief Operations Officer for CKNA.
“We offer this initial donation along with a challenge to the other industries
in Lewisburg to donate to this project and help to make Rock Creek Park even
more of a centerpiece of downtown Lewisburg.”
Huch
went on to say that if the target fund for this project is met by donations
from industries, businesses and individuals by the spring of 2015 that CKNA
will donate an additional $50,000 to the project.
The
Friends of Lewisburg Parks will use this initial donation to seek more
volunteers to help continue the fundraising effort needed to reach a target
funding goal by the spring of next year.
The
Rock Creek Park project comes as the City of Lewisburg is seeking grant funding
to improve the 1st Avenue corridor that connects the Lewisburg
Square to Rock Creek Park. The plan will be to upgrade the sidewalks on 1st
Avenue and add bike lanes, underground utilities and street lighting that match
those on the Lewisburg Square. The two projects together will be developed and
implemented over the next year and is expected to make a dramatic improvement
to the downtown area of the city.
Once
the Rock Creek Park project and the 1st Avenue corridor project are
completed, the Friends of Lewisburg Parks will choose another park or green
space area in the city on which to develop a project in accordance with the
Lewisburg Vision Plan.