The Elizabethtown Borough Community Park is a quiet park right on South Mount Joy Street, only a few minutes from campus. The park has several playgrounds for young kids to explore, pavilions, basketball courts, an amphitheater and more! There’s plenty to do for family members of all ages, or if you just want to take a nice nature walk.
This past weekend, I decided to check out the Elizabethtown Borough Community Park after hearing good things from some mutual friends. While I am a bit too old to be playing on the playground, I noticed that many families had brought their kids to the park to enjoy the warmer weather. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun on the different equipment, riding bikes on the paths, or playing in the elevated sandboxes. There seemed to be a lot of equipment that was built with many types of children in mind, especially disabled children, so that everyone could enjoy the park.
“I think it’s really cool that they have visual aids so kids that might speak different languages or are nonverbal can still play together,” said third-year professional writing major and Assistant Campus Life Editor Natalie Meyer.
The park has a long history, much of which was spent finding ways to improve the park for the community. The park’s rich history dates back to June 21, 1932, when locals introduced the idea of creating a community park. In 1950, the Elizabethtown Area Chamber of Commerce founded and donated the park to the borough, which still controls the park and maintains it. The borough continues to search for funds to pay for improvements for the park.
After creating the Park Commission, the chamber members dedicated their time to making improvements, including a comfort station, setting out paths and walkways, the making of a softball field and adding shelters and pavilions. They also did some underground work with the water and sewer lines. Donations and funds over the years have helped to provide the park with flood lights, a flagpole and restorations to the park, such as stream bank improvement, pathway restoration and playset upgrades.
My personal favorite part of the park is the small stream that runs through it. It has two bridges that allow visitors to access one of the many pavilions, swings and the basketball courts. In the stream, guests can often see ducks floating by or searching for food. Unfortunately, during my visit, I did see a bit of trash stuck in the stream. Thankfully the ducks avoided this, but further down the stream I also saw a traffic cone amongst other trash. The stream itself could definitely benefit from a bit of cleaning, and it is important as community members to remember to clean up after ourselves after visiting the park so that other guests and our animal neighbors can enjoy the park as well.
The park thankfully also provides guests with indoor bathrooms, rather than portable restrooms. The bathrooms themselves looked clean enough, but one thing I noticed was how bone-chillingly cold they were. I’m sure it would be a lifesaver on a blistering summer day, so I’m not complaining.
Overall, I would say that this park is definitely a better fit for local families to go to, but the park is welcoming to everyone in the community. If you’re looking for a place to sit on a bench and watch the ducks, or looking for a fun family-friendly activity, check out Elizabethtown Borough Community Park!
