May 1, 2012: On Tuesday, April 10, a final conceptual site plan for Friendship Park was presented to the East New Market Town Council. The summary of this project and the students’ design work is being compiled and edited into a project booklet. Once the booklet is published, it will then be distributed and presented throughout the community for feedback. The next step will be taking this conceptual plan and moving into the first phase of implementation. Please check back over the next few weeks for a link to preview the project booklet once it is complete.

November 19, 2011: Last Thursday, we had the opportunity of visiting with the design students from Philadelphia University who are currently working on the Friendship Hall community project. Since their last site visit at the end of September, they have been busy taking the project from site inventory and analysis to design concepts. Below you can download each one of the student’s presentations to view and offer comments.

Student A looked into creating a passive space that would encourage community connections and interactions with a series of garden plots, pavilions, and winding pathways. Download

Student B seeks to incorporate a tree nursery on site that would be open to the public in hopes of providing a profiting park like atmosphere to the town. Download

Student C proposed the idea of a transforming the site into a historical coastal plain landscape for people to experience what the area may have been before settlers arrived. Download

Student D used the surrounding existing community churches as her inspiration for a place of spiritual retreat incorporating a setting for outdoor religious services and yoga or meditation. Download

Student E aims to design a location where people can come to learn about sustainable agricultural and storm water management practices on site. Download

Student F explored the idea of a camp ground and destination for bicyclers traveling in the region possibly tying the site in with bike routes along the east coast and the scenic by-way that runs up and down the Eastern Shore. Download

Student G took the significant historical culture in the surrounding area and applied it into the site by creating a place for emulating the local farming and gathering habits of the Nanticoke people. Download

Last but not least, Student H strives to bring an educational facility for a partnership with University of Maryland’s Institute for Applied Agriculture & Estuarine Studies onto the site.  This would also support the need for increased economic opportunities throughout the town. Download

The students will continue to refine their ideas and designs over the next few weeks in preparation for the next community meeting Friday, December 9th.

May 24, 2011 - Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), a private, nonprofit land conservation organization committed to preserving and sustaining the vibrant communities of the Eastern Shore and the lands and waters that connect them and the town of East New Market today celebrated the Town’s purchase and preservation of a key piece of open space land for the use and enjoyment of the Town. This news is the result of many months of work by the town, ESLC and the owner of historic Friendship Hall to find a way to protect the open space surrounding the historic site.

These 10 acres of open space – once slated for development- both set off the home and remain a rare gem of open space in the center of East New Market. Had these lots been developed, Friendship Hall and the landscape of this Eastern Shore town would have been altered forever. Public input sessions, held through ESLC’s Center for Town’s Place Work[s]hop community design process, acknowledged the house and the surrounding property as a key element to the town’s identity and character. Preservation Maryland identified Friendship Hall as a 2009 top ten endangered historic property because of the planned development.

“We lose a slice of America when a town dies,” said East New Market Mayor Caroline Cline. “ESLC’s involvement in the future of East New Market was like the ‘Perfect Storm.’ We needed their expertise and leadership and they wanted to assist us with these development issues. Our town had limited funds to study the issues we were facing – with ESLC’s support, we were able to open new doors.”

Friendship Hall, a circa 1740 brick house preserved by a historic easement held by the Maryland Historical Trust and listed on the National Register of Historic Places is still on the market.

“This is a great day for Eastern Shore Land Conservancy as we work to advance our goals of bringing conservation and open space to more people in our local communities,” said Rob Etgen, ESLC’s Executive Director. “We were so pleased to work with the town of East New Market to get to this day and look forward to seeing the community use this open space.”

The project helps advance ESLC’s new 2015 Strategic Plan, which focuses land conservation efforts on Eastern Shore towns, creating public access to land and water, and empowering communities to set priorities for land preservation.