Park, community garden envisioned for vacant lot in Stroudsburg

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A new local group is exploring ways to get people outside, starting with a vacant lot at the corner of Quaker Alley and Sixth Street in downtown Stroudsburg.

The group hopes the space will eventually include amenities like an outdoor performance area, park, community garden and space for a farmers’ market.

“Our value in the Poconos is the outdoors, and in a way that’s been lost,” said Zech Strauser, addressing the crowd gathered at his landscaping business, Strauser Nature’s Helpers in Smithfield Township, where the project was announced Wednesday.

Strauser recently began working with Jim and Beth Paluch, founders of the “Come Alive Outside,” campaign based in Cleveland.

The campaign was started in 2010 as a response to the growing sedentary, indoor lifestyle many people now lead, Beth Paluch explained. The campaign works with local landscapers to help them develop outdoor community projects in their local towns.

About three weeks ago, Strauser approached Monroe County commissioners about starting a Pocono chapter of Come Alive Outside.

Strauser also told commissioners that since last spring he has been searching for a place in downtown Stroudsburg to start a community garden.

John Moyer, chairman of the Monroe County commissioners, suggested the empty lot at the corner of Quaker Alley and Sixth Street, across from Quench on 6th Caf and Juice Bar. The lot, which is owned by the county, has been empty for at least a decade, Moyer said.

Prior to that, a warehouse-type building was there, but it burned down.

The commissioners had looked into expanding the county’s administrative buildings there, but in the end decided the cost of acquiring an existing building would be substantially less, Moyer said.

In addition, the lot is not very big, only “a couple hundred feet by about 150 feet,” and it would be difficult to construct there due to an underground tunnel that runs from Main Street TV Appliances to the municipal parking garage, Moyer said.

Although he has never seen the agreement, Moyer believes the owner of Main Street TV Appliances has a permanent easement to use the tunnel.

“My thought is if the lot is turned into a park, (the store owner) can continue to have access to the tunnel,” Moyer said.

Right now, the project is in the very early stages and still requires the approval of the county commissioners. The park would also likely require the approval of Stroudsburg Borough officials, Moyer said.

Strauser is hoping to start conversations with local business owners and community leaders about how to best develop the space.

In the meantime, a website for a Poconos Come Alive Outside chapter has been started where people can share their ideas about the proposed park and other potential outdoor projects. Because it is in the very early planning stages, organizers are still trying to determine the park’s cost and how they will raise money.

For more information, visit comealiveoutsidepocono.com.

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