Garden Club finds familiar green space for park project

The ladies of Bastrop's Clark Lea Garden Club are known for their beautification efforts in Morehouse Parish. Their latest project has a “special purpose” because it will not only create a park with a mile-long walking trail at the entrance of a Bastrop corridor, it will also preserve an area that gave them their namesake over 50 years ago – Clark Lea Subdivision.
While adorning Snyder Museum with Christmas decorations Tuesday, club president Pat Peppers elaborated on their plans to utilize the park, which they officially adopted last month. When the subdivision was developed, the area was protected by law, from ever being disturbed.
“Clark Lea was the first subdivision to be constructed in Bastrop,” Peppers said. “They set aside this area with the intentions of making it into a park. It was never developed - until now.”
Peppers said plans for the park include the walking trail, benches, additional landscaping, a sufficient parking area and small wooden bridges over the park's creeks.
Peppers said that one of the residents in the Clark Lea Subdivision, Chris Andrews, has volunteered to help with the construction of the park's bridges.
“The park has a couple of rotten trees that we've discussed having removed,” Peppers said. “Chris said he could recondition the trees and use them as benches or other trimmings in the park.”
The beginning stages of the renovations will depend on funding. The garden club has joined forces with Keep Morehouse Beautiful to exert every avenue of assistance that's available.
KMB director Vicki Carpenter said with both organizations “sharing the same objectives,” which include the beautification of the parish, “it only made sense to work together on this project.”
“I commend the Garden Club and their supporters for wanting to improve one of Bastrop's heavily traveled corridors,” Carpenter said. “Keep Morehosue Beautiful will do everything it can to assist them.”
“In addition to improving the appearance of the city, it will also create a much needed walking trail,” Carpenter said. “The walking trail alone is exciting to imagine with such a limited choice in walking areas.”
Carpenter said KMB will help not only with volunteering where they can, she'll also do what she can to “help them obtain funding through grants.”
Keep Louisiana Beautiful awards grants to projects of this nature periodically. Carpenter said KLB recently awarded the grant to another of Morehosue Parish's beautification projects, but when the time approaches to file for another grant, “I'm almost certain they would love to be on board because one of its many objectives is to improve an entrance to the city. That is one of the main things that KLB supports in their beautification efforts.”
Pepper said the garden club will also hold fundraisers throughout the year to help raise the new park's funding.
“We're going to take every opportunity we can to work on the park's completion,” Peppers said. “Arbor Day is in January. We'll celebrate that month by planting trees in the park.”
Peppers has been discussing the new park with several local organizations who all appear willing to help.
“I've talked to everyone who will listen. I feel like I've talked people to death about this,” she said. “This project means so much to me. It's important to a lot of people. It's time for the talking and planning to evolve into action. We need the help of our community now to make this dream a reality.”