JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Berlin Falls Park Coordinator David Deutsch speaks during a committee meeting last Thursday. Deutsch, on the prior Monday, also discussed developments at Berlin Falls before the Town Council.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Jan. 24, 2019) Berlin Falls Project Coordinator David Deutsch, along with asking for a feasibility study for a new YMCA facility, also provided an update on activities at the park during a Jan. 14 Town Council meeting.

Deutsch said the Berlin Falls Park Advisory Committee was appointed by the mayor in 2017 and, over the last 14 months, has met 10 times. He said the committee “has really wrapped its arms around the full scope of the park in terms of assessing its future prospects for serving the community, both as an active and passive site.”

He said the committee toured the property and reviewed an interpretive plan developed by Dave Wilson and Jim Rapp of Conservation Community Consulting. That led to some interpretive signage being developed and installed on the passive end of the part. A ribbon cutting and unveiling for the signs was held over the summer.

More recently, Deutsch said the committee met with representatives from the regional YMCA and from Worcester County Recreation and Parks. Committee members also worked with Salisbury University Students on a Bee City USA initiative.

Deutsch said the committee favored building an amphitheater on a portion of the park designated for active use. The details of the amphitheater have not yet been worked out, he said, although it would likely feature music and other arts and entertainment events to help “put the park on the map.”

He said a Davis, Bowen & Friedel Inc. study on the existing buildings on the former industrial property revealed rehabilitating the main structure would cost $2.1 million, although that would not include any plumbing, electricity or HVAC.

“So $2.1 million, basically, would button the building up,” he said.

Deutsch said a strategic demolition matching-grant might be available through the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. One estimate to demo the building was $600,000.

There are also seven smaller buildings on the site, he said, that apparently “don’t serve any purpose for the future of the park.” Deutsch said bid requests were sent out to raze the buildings and a pre-bid meeting was held in November. He said contractors were given a tour of the facility and “raised some technical questions” that led to a postponement of the bid process until Feb. 8.

Deutsch said he’s also working with county officials on a pedestrian walkway from the senior center to Berlin Falls, and that Davis, Bowen and Friedel provided a preliminary cost.

Mayor Gee Williams said he’s spoken extensively with Deutsch, as well as with Berlin Falls Park Committee Chairwoman Amy Field and Vice Chairman Jack Orris.

Williams said he is pleased with the progress he’s seen thus far.

“I think the initial visions … make a lot of sense,” he said. “Philosophically, everything that’s been recommended so far is compatible with the vision that the mayor and council had when we made the decision to buy the property after about two-and-a-half years of consideration and thought about that.

“Based on what’s happening, it also gives me confidence that this is the year when we’ll probably see more visible impact [at Berlin Falls],” Williams continued. “Quite frankly, I think it’s time to take some of these ideas and see how much of it we can at least get started.”

Williams said he hopes the park will be an asset to the town for several generations, adding, “I think this is the beginning of a very exciting project.”

“My hope is that, as each element is added, it will become clearer and clearer what the future needs of the park will be,” he said. “It’s not all supposed to get done in two years or five years – but it’s also not supposed to take 50 [years].”