From downtown Woodstock to the transition to the future, Johnston Farm Park is all about to change. The city of Woodstock has multiple parks across its city, like Park at City Center, which to the locals' eyes is the front door to the city. While this park is currently very busy and noisy, Johnston’s 18 acres of land offer an escape from all of the noise to where the citizens of the city are able to enjoy a little bit of nature.
At the public meeting held on April 29, residents and city officials started to decide on what this park ultimately should become. For the most part, officials want the park to be an open space, where they want winding, long trails and large trees. They want this over the loud and high-energy sports fields or children's playgrounds as the other parks in the city have. This overall plan for this park is to have a spot where citizens can go and hear the wind, hear the trees rustling, instead of the traffic and loud noise from sporting events at parks.
City leaders see this as a great leap into Woodstock’s rapidly growing population for balancing the need to protect the environment.
Showing how important that this park is going to be to the city of Woodstock, Parks and Recreation Director, Brian Borden said this, “Johnston Farm Park is a rare opportunity to preserve a beautiful natural area right in the heart of our community. We want residents to play an active role in shaping this space so it truly reflects the community’s vision for a peaceful and accessible place to enjoy nature.”
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To fully see what the park will fully have to offer, look at who and how the citizens of Woodstock will use this new park. As other parks in the area, like the Park at City Center, is normally very crowded and packed with events, however, Johnston Farm Park will offer something that no other park in the area offers. The 17 acres of land will offer residents a chance for the citizens a break. While keeping the nature woods exactly how they are, this will be perfect for people to escape the loud noise of the main part of the city.
Trevor Collias, a Woodstock resident, has this to talk about the plans for the new nature park. “Knowing that there could be a space for me to relax, and enjoy nature is very exciting for me. I am a nature guy so I love the outdoors so having this park will be perfect for me.”
To fully grasp what Johnston Farm Park will eventually become, we have to look at how the citizens will interact with the landscape. This giant land is going to stay the same, with some trails throughout; it is meant to stay the same. Standing by the water and looking into the trees, you can see why saving this land and space is so important for the next generation.
Just a mile down the road is downtown Woodstock, where the feeling is totally different. Main Street has shops, a fast pace, and traffic on the daily and looking at your phone can easly distract you from what is only a mile down the road. By having this new park, this gives people a chance to put down their phone and enjoy the nature that is around them and to take it all in.
Johnston Farm Park has been approved by the city of Woodstock and has received funding for the 17-acre land. This will be the first park in the city where people will be able to go watch birds, hear the trees rustling, and just enjoying nature without the constant noise of the constantly growing Woodstock community.