Foundation Stories
Talleyrand Park
With a $2000 grant from the Community Foundation, the Talleyrand Park Citizens Committee is currently in the process of making much-needed improvements on the Bellefonte park, including plantings on the creek banks. “We’re having some erosion of the banks,” says True Fisher, committee chairperson. “So we’re looking to use winterberry plants which will give us a nice color over the winter. We’re going to plant some of those going along the creek around the bridge foundation, trying to retain the soil a little better. And we’re looking into planting native iris for in the peninsula and a number of other native plants that we would like to be using to hold the banks back to keep them from eroding.”
Another project is to paint the decking on the park bridges, which the Rotary Club has volunteered to do in the spring. “The grant money will pay for the paint and the supplies for that,” Fisher says. Also on the agenda is an addition for the playground. “The borough is thinking now of doing some bigger renovations to the playground, which is great, and so our piece of equipment will fit in just perfectly. It’s going to be a climbing ladder, hopefully. We’re going to replace an old tire swing. It’s a little safer, but now that the borough is thinking of doing some bigger renovations to the playground, we’re going to just hold back and make a space for that addition when we do a new design. That might take a little more time to accomplish, but they’re hoping to get something done by this summer.”
Fisher is also happy to report that a replacement fence has been installed around the sculpture garden, which includes a bust of Abraham Lincoln that was created 92 years ago by Bellefonte sculptor George Grey Barnard. “The original fence could not be repaired again and welded. It was cast iron and very brittle and the kids were kicking it in and hitting it with their skateboards. So what we did was use some of the foundation money towards doing a new fence made out of steel with a historic look to it. And so far they haven’t been able to kick that in. It looks very good. When it gets a little warmer they’re going to put the last coat of paint on the support posts. So that’s one project that’s been accomplished using some of the money that the Centre County Community Foundation allocated, and we really do appreciate that. Over the years they’ve helped fund picnic tables, benches and a variety of other projects. So they’ve really been very generous and the whole town is grateful for their help and assistance with all that they do for Bellefonte.”
