CITY OF SENECA ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW “STORYBOOK TRAIL PARK”

The City of Seneca today announced plans to create a new “Storybook Trail Park” to be
located adjacent to the Seneca Branch of the Oconee County Public Library on East South 2nd Street in downtown Seneca.

The ADA accessible park will be open for children of all levels and will include pollinator plants to create a natural habitat for butterflies, moths, and other commons species of the Lepidoptera insect order.

The City has enlisted the help of Morgan Sisk, a Clemson University junior majoring in landscape architecture, to assist with the park’s design.

Children and their adult guardians will be able to follow along pathways lined with pages from storybooks (PreK – Elementary) to read. While at the park, children will have opportunities to create chalk artwork, learn about the lives and importance of butterflies and other pollinators, practice simple math skills, and to enjoy the beauty of art and
nature throughout the park.

The muraled fence from the former Monarch Park will be incorporated into the park’s design. The fence was created as a scout project by a former Boy Scout, students from Seneca Middle School and the Hamilton Career Center, Seneca United Way volunteers, and the Blue Ridge Art Center. The park’s proximity to the library will provide an opportunity for children to visit with an accompanying adult to further learn and explore their
interests by utilizing the many offerings available to them through the county’s public library.

A separate parking area for the new park will be provided to avoid congestion in the library’s parking areas.

The “Storybook Trail Park” will be a City of Seneca project in partnership with Oconee County Public Library and the Blue Ridge Arts Center, and upon completion will be the city’s first STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) project. The park represents the Department of Arts, History, and Culture’s first project undertaken to support their goal of incorporating art and education into some of the City’s undeveloped and underdeveloped green spaces and providing enjoyable outdoor experiences for children, youth, and families.

Phase one development of the Storybook Trail Park is scheduled to begin sometime later this year.

BACKGROUND STORYBOOK TRAIL PARKS
The concept of a Storybook Trail, the idea of combining the joy of reading and the outdoors, was created in 2007 by Anne Ferguson in Montpelier, Vermont, a specialist in chronic disease prevention. Ferguson wanted to find fun ways for families to be outside and moving. She implemented her idea of taking pages from storybooks and placing them along local nature trails, a park concept that has spread to parks, library campuses and nature trails in all 50 states and 12 countries.