How to Build a Park

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: April 2024

It’s easy to limn the impact of Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park has had on the Highlands community over its 10 years.

All you must do is visit over the course of a year.

On any given afternoon – in all seasons – you’ll find people enjoying their lunch al fresco and swapping stories, the 21st century equivalent of Loafer’s Bench.

Or attend the Highlands Farmer’s Market, and you’ll notice neighbors carefully browsing through the bazaar of produce and baked goods and crafts, and – this is important – chatting.

In the Busy Season, you’ll find entire families enjoying the green sward – just one block from bustling Main Street – and making new stories to be shared.

On any Saturday night in the Summer or Autumn, there are raucous, just-this-side-of-rowdy, free concerts staged before cheering, dancing, and laughing crowds.

Or in the Winter, there are crowds gathering for the Town Tree Lighting or for visits with Santa or Snow Fest 4118 or enjoying the Highlands Skating Rink.

“Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park is a place where the community can come together to celebrate their heritage, share music, ring in the holidays, and find respite and relaxation from the bustle of our busy lives,” says Friends of the Park’s Hank Ross, who was instrumental in bringing the park to splendid life.

It was a long time coming.

In May of 2005, the Highlands Planning Board finalized a new 5-year Land Use Plan, which suggested trying to retain the look and feel, and some of the fabric, of a 19th century village. One of the important features of such a village is a “village green,” or central park (square), which could provide recreational green space for both young and old, as well as serve as a venue for outdoor community events.

With the relocation of the Highlands Post Office, the tract located on the corner of Fifth and Pine streets went into private ownership. When zoning permission to use the property for a multi-story warehouse fell through, Janet and King Young suggested turning the property into a park.

Using an account established by the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, a committee began raising money to purchase the park. During that period Macon Bank agreed to lease a portion of its property facing Pine Street to the town to serve as amphitheater seating for a new park. In 2007 an individual was found who agreed to purchase the property and hold it while the money could be raised. The property was purchased for nearly $760,000. It was deeded to the town on Feb. 19, 2008, specifically for use as a public park.

Over a two-year period the committee raised nearly $900,000 for the park from various individuals and organizations (both public and private), including the Land Trust, both Rotary Clubs, The Town of Highlands, and the Macon County Board of Commissioners ($200,000). Contributions from individuals and corporation totaled approximately $300,000. Funds left over after the purchase and associated costs were used for a few improvements at the park, including the crosswalk and the sign erected last spring.

The sub-committee formed in 2006 to purchase the site also initiated efforts to design the park. That committee eventually became an official subcommittee of the town’s Recreation Committee. Various designs for the park were developed in conjunction with the committee by the aforementioned Ross of Ross Landscape Architecture of Highlands, who donated his time to the project. As early as 2006, Macon Bank donated a gazebo, which was moved to the park to serve as a temporary pavilion.

And in 2009, the town installed a major storm water runoff project under the park property. That project, funded by federal stimulus money, was designed to clean up surface waters on that end of town and reduce flooding. That project was considered the best green project in the state at that time. A raised walkway across Pine Street was also constructed to connect the park to the Macon Bank property, and grass-paved parking spaces were added. As part of the planning process, students in the art class at Highlands School suggested developing an historical theme, leading the town to change the name from Pine Street Park to Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park.

The storm water runnoff project being installed in 2009.

In the fall of 2013, several community organizations came to together to begin exploring the possibility of implementing the most recent design for the park through a combined public/private effort. That initial group was composed of representatives of the Highlands Rotary Club, the Mountaintop Rotary Club, the Laurel Garden Club, the Mountain Garden Club, the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, the Highlands Plateau Greenway, and the Highlands Plateau Audubon Society.

Which brings us to the present day.

Friends of Founders Park, which continues to fundraise to maintain the park (witness their annual Shrimp Boil – a bright spot on the Plateau’s Social Calendar), has outlined clear policy positions to ensure that the park remains a recreational/cultural landmark far into the future.

If you’d like to learn more about Friends and support them in their mission, visit foundersparkhighlands.org. If you’d like to keep up with activities at this busy emerald patch, just one block from Main Street, just keep reading The Laurel or check online at thelaurelmagazine.com.