Winner: 2020 Honor Award for Planning from the PA-DE Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects

The Borough of Atglen, a small municipality located in the semi-rural region of western Chester County PA, was awarded a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources to conduct a planning and design study for four open-space parcels in Atglen. SALT DESIGN STUDIO was hired to lead the planning, design, and community engagement process to develop a Master Park Site Development Plan. The four parcels being studied varied in scale, ecology and existing programming, creating a great opportunity to develop a diverse parks and recreation system for this Borough.

The planning process included community meetings, study committee meetings and stakeholder interviews facilitated by SALT to solicit input on recreational needs and design preferences. Community feedback shared throughout the project consistently expressed support for protecting and preserving the natural environment, while creating a distinctive character for each park with new recreational amenities. Highlights of proposed park improvements:

Valley Avenue Park: Creates a destination park in the Borough that offers regulation sports fields, dog park, fitness trail, trailhead and restroom pavilion, bike pump track, and other active recreational amenities; as well as restoring the riparian corridor and wet meadow as an environmental, educational, and passive-recreation component.

Church Street Park: Revitalizes Church Street Park as a welcoming community and event space that includes a picnic pavilion, multi-purpose recreational lawn with loop walking path, nature-play and traditional playground, entrance plaza, and ecological stormwater management.

Borough Hall Park: Establishes a new gateway to Atglen with a trailhead and pedestrian connection to the future Chester Valley Trail extension/Enola Low Grade Trail along the rail corridor, and a new playground. (Design and construction documentation for this park was completed by SALT and construction was completed in July 2024.)

206 Main Street Park: Reinvigorates new energy and activity in the downtown core through the creation of a lively pocket park, replete with seating, native plantings, a spray-ground, and concessions stand.

Collaborators: BL Companies

Status: Master Plan Completed March 2021