More open space added in Chesco through grants

CHESTER COUNTY

Open space added through grants

WEST CHESTER More than 1,000 acres of open space in Chester County will be preserved through grants approved Thursday by the county commissioners.

Two new community parks will be created in New London and West Pikeland Townships, along with a new nature preserve open to the public in Warwick and East Nantmeal Townships, the county said.

"Chester County's well-earned reputation as one of the top counties in the nation to live and work is due, in large part, to our balance between managing growth and preserving open space," Commissioners Chair Terence Farrell said in a statement.

Additions will be made to French Creek State Park and the ChesLen Preserve. Some parks and trails will also get new facilities.

By the end of 2014, more than a quarter of the county's land was preserved. The new grants to conservancies and municipalities add about 1,071 acres of public open space, park space, or preserved farmland. - Justine McDaniel