Rotary International celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and local clubs are being asked to take on a major community project to help in the celebration.
The Waynesboro club voted to raise about $180,000 to start work on the park this year.
Club members also decided to install a high-tech, computerized, lighted community bulletin board on a brick foundation at the intersection of Roadside Avenue and East Main Street. A $16,000 anonymous donation got that project under way.
Messages on the sign will change regularly and will be controlled by employees in the nearby office of the Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce.
The sign is finished. The club is waiting for the Allegheny Power Co. to hook up the electricity before messages can begin to flash.
The park project has to work its way through the borough's permit process including a stop at the Waynesboro Planning Commission and then the Borough Council for a final OK.
Rock said the club will be ready to present its preliminary plan to the planning commission in March.
"We want to begin construction by late spring," he said.
The Rotarians are working with the borough's recreation board on the project.
The first phase will include a mile-long walkway around the perimeter of the park, Rock said.
The club will build a 20-foot-by-40-foot pavilion, restrooms, parking area, some benches and a small playground, and do some initial landscaping, he said.
Future projects could include volleyball and tennis courts, a pit for horseshoes, more playground equipment and more pavilions, he said.
The plans do not call for any serious earth-moving projects on the field, which is sloped, Rock said.
The club has appointed a fund-raising committee to seek donations for the project.
The Rotary Club of Waynesboro celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. The club has 83 members, including 15 women.
