The Cypress Pond Park site is unusual in its location:  it is a large track of undeveloped land located in close proximity to a downtown business district that provides scenic views of the City from high bluffs overlooking slopes with ancient ravines carved in them by the forces of nature.  Below the bluffs, in lower swamp regions of the area, beautiful tupelo and cypress groves can be accessed.

This park will serve the needs of our City in and for education in nature and the environment, recreation, conservation and preservation of natural resources, land, water, plant and animal life and the economic revitalization of downtown Montgomery.

We are inviting persons with an active interest in being participants in the development of Cypress Pond Park to join with us in the organization of a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization to assist in the planning and funding of this great project.

Contact for information:

ROBERT COPE, III
5760 Carmichael Parkway
Suite 1
Montgomery, Alabama 36117
email:  rcopeworks1@att.net
phone:  334-819-7900
fax:  334-277-2919

Community leaders and residents are ready to move forward with a project to develop Cypress Pond Park — an undeveloped pond site located near the downtown business district in Montgomery.

The Montgomery Tree Committee, in partnership with the city of Montgomery, organized a recent meeting for residents with an active interest in the development of the project.

Before the informal meeting Thursday at Gateway Park, the Cypress Pond Park project still was in the idea phase.

Introduced in March 2008, the project already had generated large community support, but no concrete plans for funding, timelines or labor had been established.

Establishing more concrete plans was the purpose of the meeting, said Robert Cope, chairman of the Cypress Pond Park Committee and a member of the Montgomery Tree Committee.

“One of the purposes of the meeting was to take the first step to developing community-based organizations and getting people locally involved,” he said.

“Anybody who has anything to say about the project, we want to hear it, whether it’s a guy down the street or a landscape architect … we want to build an inclusive organization for input from the Montgomery community.”

City Councilman Tracy Larkin said the Cypress Pond Park project would benefit the city three-fold — in education, tourism and economic development.

It could serve as an educational backdrop for students, a place of recreation for children and adults, and a tourism and business boost for the city.

“It feeds right into the Riverwalk and it could lead to downtown development,” he said. “And from the vantage point where it is located, you could see the entire downtown area. It is truly magnificent.”

Larkin, who grew up in the King Hill neighborhood not far from the proposed project, said having that much green space within a business district “is an asset to the city.”

Cope and other guests at the meeting agreed.

“This is big,” Cope said. “It is unique in being a large 230 to 260 acres … in a major metropolitan area and we have it here and we want to make it accessible to visitors and people locally.”
During the meeting, residents split into groups to discuss various aspects of the Cypress Pond Project including potential partners and responsibilities, marketing ideas, environmental challenges, and a planning timeline.

To encourage ideas, presentations were given on the background of the project and a virtual tour of Cypress Swamp was shown to the audience.

Chris Anderson and Eve Brantley gave an assessment of Cypress Creek as a natural habitat, while James Robinson gave an assessment based on hydrogeology — the study of the function and use of surface and ground water.

Cope said they are ready to move forward.

“We have city support and we will be seeking funding, but the first thing we have to do is go through the planning process, which will involve the employment of a landscape artist,” he said.

Cypress Pond Park includes the Cypress Inlet on the Alabama River, Cypress Creek and the Cypress Pond area. Cypress Pond is an untouched landscape of about 260 acres. The natural terrain is located in the heart of downtown Montgomery, just east of North Ripley Street. The Cypress Inlet is located next to the Riverwalk Amphitheater.

Cope said they want to landscape around it and, if possible, construct a new road that leads to the area. Proponents of the project envision walking trails and boardwalks along the pond, creek and more than 100 tree and plant species nestled inside the area. The trails would be connected to the downtown revitalization project, which is already in full swing with the development of the Alley Entertainment District, baseball stadium, amphitheater and other work along the riverfront.

The project also is a mission for restoration and preservation, officials said.

Susan Carmichael, director of the Montgomery Clean City Commission, said she hopes the development of Cypress Pond Park will encourage more young children to play outside.

“I think our young people need to have something like this available to them. It is such a pretty creek (with) all the flora and the fauna. We are lucky to have it,” she said.

The Cypress Pond site is very unique in being a large tract of undeveloped land located in close proximity to a downtown business district and providing scenic views of the City from high bluffs overlooking slopes with ancient ravines carved by the forces of nature and a swampland below.

This park will serve the needs of our City in and for education in nature and the environment, recreation, conservation and preservation of natural resources, land, water, plant and animal life and the economic revitalization of downtown Montgomery.

We are inviting knowledgeable persons with an active interest in being participants in the development of this project to join this meeting on November 12.  Directions to Gateway Park are available by e-mail response.

November 12, 2009

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Gateway Park

Contact:  Robert Cope

Office: 334.819.7900

Cell: 334.538.1357

E-mail: rcopeworks@bellsouth.net