Sometime during the start of next year, Martinsville residents will have a new recreational park.
The park, which totals 4.2 acres, comes courtesy of the Martinsville-based Lester Group, according to its president, Jay Dickens. The Lester Group primarily deals in lumber-based products, construction and real estate, according to Dickens.
“We have a long history of being involved in all the communities we serve,” Dickens said of the company, which operates in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. “In Martinsville, we’ve been based since 1896.”
The park’s construction phase began a little over a year ago, he said.
“We’ve already done the trails, we’ve paved the trails,” he said. “We’re going to introduce lighting in the interior of the area. There will be dawn-to-dusk lights on the utility poles surrounding the tract. We’ve put a parking lot in, we’re going to put park picnic benches in, we’re going to put in benches for people to sit on.”
The park, which lies adjacent to Martinsville’s Liberty Street and in the heart of one of the city’s major commercial districts, is the most recent in a number of projects for which the company either provided funding or land. Others, according to Dickens, include the YMCA and the armory on Commonwealth Boulevard.
The park, tentatively named Lester Park, is a sort of celebration of the company’s time in Martinsville, Dickens said.
“We had about 6 acres … that was in our forest lands,” he said. “When we went to cut that land, it was right at the time of our 125th anniversary. We thought of how we could best use that land. Rather than replanting it … we would look to make a park to serve the city and county.”
The company had a choice between planting trees or constructing a park and opted for both. The park will offer walking trails and benches, Dickens said, and the Lester Group will also plant trees throughout the park.
“There are still trees to be planted between now and this time next year,” Dickens said. “We’re introducing native hardwoods to our area as well as pine trees in the park. We’ve already started that process.”
When completed, it will be one of about a dozen parks available to the public in Martinsville, although its potential status as a public park is currently in question. Dickens said whether the group will hand over the park to Martinsville is being hashed out. City officials have yet to be approached about taking over the park once it’s completed, according to Martinsville spokesperson Kendall Davis.
Dickens said he hopes the park will have a positive impact on local efforts to emphasize healthful living.
The park’s construction coincides with a pair of community surveys intended to provide a glimpse into the overall health of those living in Martinsville and surrounding areas.
With findings including a lower life expectancy rate relative to state averages, officials are touting the need for residents to get active. Dickens said he hopes the new park will help persuade people to do just that.
“I think it’s an opportunity for people to get out and exercise and stroll,” he said. “It’s a park growing in front of their very eyes, right? Just like trees don’t grow overnight.”
