SEAFORD, Del. - A celebration for conservation. On Monday, the Chesapeake Conservancy and Sussex County Land Trust announced the purchase of new land, Nanticoke Crossing Park.
They closed on the property at the end of March, which is just four miles west of Seaford. Nanticoke Crossing Park used to be a trailer park. Now the 41 acre property will allow visitors and Delawareans to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature along the Nanticoke River. Within the 41 acres, is 29 acres of forest, 12 acres of open with canopy trees, and 1,900 hundred feet of shoreline. "My father 60 years ago was the mayor of Seaford, he built the sewage disposal plan and cleaned up the river so that today we can go out and enjoy it. I feel really grateful as his son to be now involved as chair of the Chesapeake Conservancy, and opening up access points to the Nanticoke River," said Randy Larrimore, chairman of the Chesapeake Conservancy. Instead of building a development on the land, Larrimore says they're building a true national park experience in Seaford. "I'm just so proud now that we have protected all four corners of the Nanticoke. This was the last spot that needed to be acquired to protect the viewscape from this area for generations to generations and hundreds of years to come," said Larrimore. According to Chesapeake Conservancy, 33% of the land along the Nanticoke River is already protected. "It's so important given President Biden's charge to protect 30% of United States land by 2030," said Larrimore. Several government and non-profit organizations came together to preserve this land. "As the deal got consummated we brought in three or four other partners. The Sussex County Council played a major role in this, Mount Cuba, our friends at Mount Cuba, The U.S. Navy, and Delaware Fish and Wildlife and the Delaware Open Space Council Delaware," said Casey Kenton, Chairman of the Sussex County Land Trust  The park, which is still in the early stages, will allow people to camp, kayak, hold outdoor events, and more. Kenton also said, "The next 12 months we should have a pretty good direction as to what the master plan looks like, and we’re going to be working with our partners and probably bring in the city of Seaford to brainstorm on ideas of what we can make the deal look better and use as amenity for the future." "That's one thing that President Vincent said in his remarks, something like this, an effort like this takes a group of people, a group of entities coming together and no one entity can do it themselves, and we're proud to be able to be a part of that," said Chip Guy, Communications Director for Sussex County. The organizations are working with a landscape architect to develop a plan for the property, but what you see here will remain largely the same, because the goal is to keep most of the park untouched and nature in tact.Â
