News

Laurel Park plans Jump Off improvements

By Bill Moss, Published: November 4, 2014

LAUREL PARK — True to its name, Laurel Park is getting more park-like.

The Laurel Park Town Council endorsed in concept an ambitious plan for improvements to the town's most popular tourist destination — Jump Off Rock — and agreed to a tree planting project along Fifth Avenue.
The Jump Off Rock plan includes new signage, tree and shrub work, selective clearing, mulch trails, split rail fencing and other improvements. The plans were endorsed by the Laurel Park Civic Association, which plans to raise money to cover as much of the cost as it can.
"We have $1,500 that was given specifically for Jump Off Rock but we'll be looking for a lot more," Civic Association President Don McIntyre told the council. "It's going to take a lot more so we're going to have an overall donation plan from individuals as well as corporations."
Landscape architect Hunter Marks presented plans for the work, which includes a stage, a new path, an entry plaza with a circular stone seat wall and utilities. He projected total cost at $39,526.
It will take a while to raise the money, McIntyre said.
"I think it's going to be a four- or five-year program," he said. "Our first step would be to have Hunter refine the cost estimate and then try to decide what would be the top priority."
Mayor Carey O'Cain praised the plans.
"Having the stage is significant because that's where the stage was when I grew up," he said. "It was a wooden platform and they had dances there monthly in the summertime."
The new trees on Fifth Avenue will be visible sooner than the Jump Off Rock improvements.
The council agreed to appropriate $3,000, sharing the cost with First Congregational Church, which also committed $3,000. The trees will extend to White Pine Drive. Varieties of trees and shrubs include flowering dogwood, red maple, Norway spruce, viburnum, azalea, foster holly and Japanese zelkova.