Fundraising for nearly 10-acre downtown Lexington park reaches key milestone
A proposed nearly 10-acre private park in downtown Lexington has achieved a key fundraising goal— surpassing $12 million in donations.
“Families across Lexington realize the importance of this park and want to be a part of it,” said Allison Lankford, executive director of Town Branch Park. “Their generous donations have fueled our efforts to move into the final design phase.”
The Town Branch Park, a private park that includes water features, a children’s play area and outdoor amphitheater space, started raising money in 2016 with the goal of raising at least $31 million to start construction of the Central Park-like green space. The plans call for the private park to be built on Main Street adjacent to the expanded Lexington Convention Center and Rupp Arena complex.
The group has raised $12.2 million, edging past its fundraising goal of $12 million by Dec. 31, 2019. It has raised more than $3 million since July, when it announced a $500,000 grant from the William Stamps Farish Fund. The year-end pledges totaled more than $1 million, Lankford said.
“I bought my office on Main Street 35 years ago,” said Bill Justice, owner of Justice Real Estate, who made one of the year-end donations. “The transformation of downtown since then is exciting. Town Branch Park will be its centerpiece. Cities with downtown parks throughout the United States are thriving and so will Lexington.”
The $12.2 million has come from individuals, private foundations and some grants.
In addition to raising money, over the past three years the group has also completed environmental and geological assessments and completing an inclusion study to ensure the park is welcoming to everyone.
Town Branch Park’s timeline is tentative. Organizers hope to break ground by the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023 — but the official start date will depend on the success of fundraising efforts and the completion of the currently-under construction expanded convention center.
