The conservation easement revokes a previous 2011 stipulation agreement which required replacement of both the deteriorated dam and two lane roadway, with a return of vehicular traffic.  

Under the previous stipulation, the private country club would have kept their lake, Media Borough would have maintained the roadway and the County would have kept the significantly larger dam free from vegetation. The dam reconstruction project would have required the permanent removal of over 70 mature trees and buried sensitive ecosystems and wetlands in the adjacent Glen Providence Park. It would also have returned heavy car traffic to the northern end of the park, including both the Kirk Lane and Third Street entrances.

Media Borough continues responsibility for managing the multi-million dollar project, largely paid for with Pennsylvania tax dollars. The required state permits for the project were delayed due to the anticipated harm to the park and the lack of an entity willing to be responsible owner for the proposed high hazard dam. 

Friends of Glen Providence Park looks forward to seeing the site development plans referenced in the Conservation Easement agreement, and we will share them with you when we can. We are asking for assurances that future construction and management of the area meets regulatory requirements, as well as best environmental practices. 

Friends of Glen Providence Park will continue to monitor the water quality of Broomall’s Run and advocate for protection of the area’s ecosystem. We will also advocate for continued community involvement in designing a new connection between Media Borough and Upper Providence Township.

Visit our “Nature” tab to explore the wildlife of the park, or check out all the species of birds and trees found so far in the park! Learn about the historical springs in the 1.1 acre! If you dare, read about the saga of Broomall’s Dam, abandoned since the 1990s but subject to years of litigation and dispute.

See the individual events in our Calendar for more information and logistics. All events are family-friendly and free to pre-registered participants. We hope to see you in the park!

Friends of Glen Providence Park
2023 Schedule of Events

Wonderful Woody Plants of Winter with Mike Rolli
Saturday, January 21, 10:00am-12:00 noon
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

Children’s Event: Whoooo’s Awake in the Winter Woods? with Julie Smith
Saturday, February 25, 1:00-2:00pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, February 26, 1:00-2:00pm

CRC Streams Clean-up
Saturday, March 25, 9:00-11:00am
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain or shine

Forest Therapy Walk with Shannon Robards
Saturday, April 15, 10:00am-12:30pm
Meet at State Street entrance
Rain or shine

Weekend Trail Crew with Aura Lester
Saturday, April 29, 9:30-11:30am
Meet at Kirk Lane entrance
Rain date Sunday, April 30

Spring Bird Walk with Dave Eberly
Saturday, May 13, 8:00-10:00am
Meet at 3rd & Kirk Lane entrance
Rain or shine

2023 Arts in the Park – coming soon!
We’ll post an Arts in the Park announcement with details, and Calendar listings for each concert.
All Saturdays, 5:00-6:30, with Sunday rain dates

• June 24 – Nothin’ But Voice with A Cappella Pops
• July 15 – Blues with Johnny Never
• August 12 – Didgeridoo with Harold Smith
• September 16 – Rhythm & Blues with Brian Kors

National Public Lands Day Plantings 
Saturday, October 7, 9:00–12:00 noon
Location TBD
Rain date Sunday, October 8

Geology Walk with Charles Randall
Saturday, November 4, 2:00-4:00pm
Meet at 3rd & West Street entrance
Rain date Sunday, November 5

Christmas Bird Count
Saturday, December 16, 8:30-10:30am
Meet at 3rd & West Street entrance
Rain, snow, or shine

IN ADDITION:

The Great Media Easter Egg Hunt will be held this year on Saturday, April 1 at 11:00, with a rain date of Saturday, April 8 at 11:00. That’s run by Media Lions. It’s the park’s longest-running event, held annually since 1954(!), except for 2020 & 2021 due to COVID.

Any updates will be noted here:

• 1/17: added date for November Geology Walk
• 2/9: added concert dates
• 2/28: added Easter Egg Hunt dates
• 3/07: added Forest Therapy walk and April Trail cleanup location

After being postponed by the rain and wind brought by Hurricane Ian, on Saturday Friends of Glen Providence Park held our 10th annual plantings for National Public Lands Day. Twenty-six adults and teens volunteered for a combined 94 hours digging, planting, mulching, installing deer fencing, and watering, all to improve wildlife habitat in Glen Providence!

This was Phase Four of our Kirk Lane project, which we started on National Public Lands Days in 2015, 2016 and 2019. We expanded on previous plantings with an additional 17 native trees and shrubs, and 13 native woodland plants – the complete list is below. The plants benefit wildlife by providing seeds, nuts, fruits, and nectar for mammals, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators, all while helping to slow down and absorb surface storm water runoff.

In addition, many of the plants provide food for humans – adding to the food forest we have started by the Kirk Lane entrance in previous years.

Thank you to the 26 volunteers who worked diligently all morning (and some into the afternoon!), and all who made this project possible:

Delaware County Parks & Recreation provided the funding for the plants and delivered a new bench and the mulch. Delaware County Conservation District delivered their Conservation Planting Trailer full of all of the tools we could need! Garden Influence and Redbud Native Plant Nursery provided invaluable expertise, Taylor Memorial Arboretum donated additional woodland plants, and Friends of Glen Providence Park donors funded the deer fencing and posts, snacks, two special trees, and other supplies for this project.

Additional groups of volunteers from Penncrest High School and Springton Lake Middle School provided invaluable manpower, and neighbors of the park allowed us to run a hose from their house to water the plantings. Cafe Isla donated coffee to fuel our volunteers, and Pinocchio’s Restaurant donated pizza for lunch. We are grateful to all of these people for making the plantings possible!

Here’s our native plant list from October 15, 2022.

And check out our photos (and video!) below:

Several Friends of Glen Providence Park citizen scientists recently gathered in the park to test a water sample for a number of factors which indicate stream health.

Broomall’s Run, a tributary of Ridley Creek, enters the park at Third Street and exits close to Baltimore Pike. Until recently the stream was dammed, creating an artificial lake on the Broomall’s Lake Country Club property adjacent to the park. Part of the stream is currently directed through a manmade pond within the park.

The water collected was tested on-site for temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pH, phosphates and turbidity. Future testing will include coliform bacteria and macroinvertebrates.

The Friends of Glen Providence Park hope to understand how the stream compares with other water sources in the Commonwealth. In addition, area residents are curious about the impact of stormwater runoff which can also be impacted by pesticide and herbicide use in developed areas of the Borough.

The nonprofit organization, created to preserve and enhance the county’s first public park, is planning to continue periodic testing in various areas of the stream. Additional volunteers are welcome – please email us at FriendsoftheGlen [at] gmail [dot] com if you’re interested!

Announcing… Friends of Glen Providence Park’s 2022 Arts in the Park! We have another great mix for our tenth year of performances, with 20s Jazz; A Cappella; Beatlesque Pop; and Bluegrass!

At the Glen Providence Park stage
Main entrance, 550 W. State St., Media, PA
Saturdays: 5:00-6:30pm
with Sunday rain dates

Enjoy an afternoon performance at the historical concert stage, then walk two blocks into town for dinner and shopping on State Street. Check out our full poster below…

Mark your calendars!

Roaring 20s Jazz with Blackbird Society Orchestra
Saturday, June 4

Nothin’ But Voice with A Cappella Pops – CANCELED**
Saturday, July 16

Melodic Beatlesque Pop with Jim Boggia
Saturday, August 13

Old-Timey Modern Bluegrass with The Cheddar Boys 
Saturday, September 10

Thank you:

This summer’s Arts in the Park was made possible by funding from Program Stream, a grant initiative of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that is regionally administered by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. 

Thank you to our Summer Series Sponsors Media Recreation Board and West End Flats; Performance Sponsors Shere-e-Punjab, Seven Stones Gallery, Dos Gringos, and Sterling Pig Brewery; and to Delaware County Parks & Recreation, without whose support these concerts would not be possible. 

General Logistics:

• Free and family-friendly!
• Performances are at the Glen Providence Park Stage, downhill from the main entrance on State Street in Media.
• Rain dates are the Sunday after each scheduled performance. If the rain date is used, the decision will be posted by 2:00pm Saturday on our website and Facebook. 
• Seating is on the lawn – bring your blanket or chair!
• There is a parking lot at the State Street entrance and along State Street and West Street.
• We encourage you to walk or take public transportation: the main entrance is just 2 blocks from the end of the Media trolley line, or less than a .6 mile walk from the Media train station.

More details on each performance coming soon!

• See our Calendar for individual event listings.
• Read about the decades of concerts in the park, from 1937 to the 1970’s.
• Read recaps and see photos from our past concerts.
• Read about our September 2011 project to restore the concert stage.

**The A Cappella Pops concert was canceled due to the probability of thunderstorms on both Saturday and Sunday. We hope to reschedule it for later in the summer!

“Happy new year”
  I say to the wise old trees.
    “Just enjoy the day.”                               

Trees don’t talk to me –
  their long, open sighs welcome
    all who cooperate                     

The trees sleep standing
   They don’t see the pond freezing
      All winter they sleep               

Winter sunset –
  bright sun and clouds, but not warm,
    West ridge on fire                                          

No sound    no movement
   sun setting through frozen woods –
      Aha!   a wren’s song.                    

Path is snow-icy
  detail and depth perception
    heightened on the braes

Wandering thru clans
    of trees in the open woods
      I feel connections.                 

Looking with the sun
   upstream in the local Glen     
      so many bare trunks                              

The Saturday before Christmas, eight of us headed out on a very overcast morning in Glen Providence Park for the Christmas Bird Count. The air was damp, making it feel colder than the thermometer’s 40 degrees! But the Bird Count never fails to be a literal and figurative breath of fresh air in the midst of the holiday bustle, and we were accompanied by wonderful people. We documented 140 birds of 28 species – second only to last year’s wintry count, when we documented 29 species!

Some of our most exciting sightings were a Brown Creeper, Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, and Red-shouldered Hawks! Alas, the Great Horned Owl that has been calling many nights around the park did not make an appearance that day, but having heard it just the night before, we were able to include it in our count for the week.

It was the 122nd year for the CBC – the world’s longest-running Citizen Science survey! Here is our official Christmas Bird Count list of 28 species for Saturday, December 18, 2021:

Mallard – 10
Mourning Dove – 18
Turkey Vulture – 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Red-shouldered Hawk – 1
Belted Kingfisher – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 5
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Northern Flicker – 1
Blue Jay – 5
American Crow – 6
Fish Crow – 5
Carolina Chickadee – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 5
White-breasted Nuthatch – 3
Brown Creeper – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Carolina Wren – 2
Hermit Thrush – 1
American Robin – 46
House Finch – 3
Dark-eyed Junco – 6
White-throated Sparrow – 9
Song Sparrow – 1
Northern Cardinal – 2

It was overcast enough that it was hard to see the birds with binoculars, much less capture their picture, but here are a few photos from the Bird Count and Christmas Bird Count Week…

Carol Carmon’s video on YouTube (below) captures the morning beautifully!