Lewes hits goal to save forest
The campaign to buy and save Lewes’ Fourth Street Preserve has reached its $8 million fundraising goal, three months early.
Jim Ford, campaign chair, and Pam Costanzi, Fourth Street Preserve campaign manager, made the announcement June 8.
The 30-acre parcel will be purchased, restored and then turned over to the city. The land is the last forest in Lewes and was the first deeded land in Delaware in 1670.
Ford said meeting the goal means the project is halfway to becoming a reality.
“As our supporters know, additional donations will still be needed for settlement expenses and the costs to implement the preserve’s new master plan,” Ford said.
He said estimated costs for the restoration will soon be announced.
The campaign was a joint effort by the city and the Greater Lewes Foundation.
Ford said funds to acquire the historic preserve came from a variety of public and private sources.
• $1 million from the City of Lewes
• $1 million from the Longwood Foundation
• $3.2 million from the Delaware Open Space Council.
The remaining $2.8 million came from more than 1,300 individual donations by residents and businesses, according Pam Costanzi, campaign director.
Ford said a settlement will be determined soon, after which the city will own the property.
“At a time when natural resources are disappearing, our entire community came together to save this rare forest sanctuary,” said Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco.”That says a lot about our shared values.”
A concept master plan, created by landscape architect Rodney Robinson, was recently unveiled to Lewes Mayor and City Council. It proposes a series of walking trails, constructed wetland, ditch crossings, new plantings and interpretive signage.
Under terms required by the Rollins Trust, current owners of the land, no structures are to be built.
Robinson said a full restoration to a healthy native forest will take a number of years.
Joe Stewart, chair of the Greater Lewes Foundation, compared the preserve campaign to the GLF’s first project – Lewes Canalfront Park.
“Both multiyear campaigns brought all of Lewes together and reinforced what the GLF does best, which is to maintain and enhance our special sense of community,” Stewart said.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
