Rendering courtesy of Kimley-Horn and Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
A rendering of the aerial view of the reimagined campus area.
After a groundbreaking in early June, construction on Phase II of improvements to the James Farm Ecological Preserve in Ocean View, Del., has gotten under way.
James Farm is a 150-acre nature park located along the state's Indian River Bay and managed by the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays (CIB) for Sussex County,
The preserve is open every day and serves as the hub of CIB's environmental education programming. It welcomed more than 33,000 visitors in 2023.
Delaware Public Media reported June 25 that the second phase of work is focusing on infrastructure to better accommodate environmental education, restoration, research and community recreation activities.
According to Mark Carter, director of development for Delaware CIB, a number of improvements are needed at the site.
"Basically, [with] the amount of students coming through we needed areas that would provide safety in case of inclement weather. We needed shade and those kinds of things," he explained.
At the campus area of the ecological park, the Phase II enhancements include:
- A three-season environmental education building with capacity for up to 70 people, equipped with electricity, presentation capabilities, counter space and sinks for lab activities.
- ADA-accessible restroom facilities.
- A 70-seat amphitheater to serve as an outdoor classroom.
- A new maintenance building with large equipment storage and a fully-equipped workshop.
- Habitat restoration staging area.
- Ecotour concessionaire storage facility.
- An Improved trail system.
- A realignment of the park's Red Trail to address stresses on the preserve's ecosystems and create a more immersive natural experience for visitors by diverting them away from neighboring residential and commercial properties.
- A boardwalk system extension and replacement.
- Signage and a wayfinding system designed to be aesthetically and structurally integrated into the park.
- New gateway signage.
- Updated and expanded interpretive signage placed in 18 locations around the preserve to educate users about its ecosystems and environmental processes.
Carter told Delaware Public Media that Delaware CIB is "realigning and fixing some of our trails to account for sensitive areas [and] ecosystems, [and is also trying] to make them work easy for folks to get to."
He added, though, that not all the trails will be ADA compliant.
The second phase of work at the James Farm Ecological Preserve is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.
Both Phases Part of Preserve's New Blueprint
The James Farm Ecological Preserve is a crucial resource for CIB and the Sussex County community at large, according to the project page on CIB's online site.
Despite the critical nature of the park, however, it does face challenges.
When originally developed in 1998, James Farm's facilities were installed piecemeal and without foreknowledge of Sussex County's future population growth. As the preserve's popularity increased and its programs expanded, the need to plan for increased visitation while protecting its ecosystems became evident.
That led CIB to embark on the development of a "holistic plan" that would address the needs of James Farm's users and collectively envision its future, the organization noted.
After seeking input and ideas from CIB and Sussex County staff members as well as elected officials, community leaders, educators, volunteers and donors, the resulting master plan, finalized in 2014, addresses improvements to better serve Delaware residents and visitors while protecting the preserve's ecosystems and enhancing education and outreach opportunities.
The CIB began to implement the first phase of the James Farm improvement effort in 2017. A groundbreaking was staged at the site in the fall of 2018.
The Phase I infrastructure enhancements included:
- A Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT)-approved parking lot entrance and driveway to safely accommodate increased vehicle traffic.
- Expanded parking facilities to increase capacity from eight to 27 vehicles.
- Designated school bus parking for safe student loading and unloading.
- A multi-purpose event lawn to accommodate greater attendance at community events and provide open space for public recreation.
With support from Sussex County, Delaware's Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Trails (ORPT) program, DelDOT's Community Transportation Fund and private donations, the CIB successfully secured all necessary funding to allow James Farm's first phase of upgrades to be completed in the spring of 2019.
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