City of Annapolis leaders accepted the “Land Managers of the Year” award at a ceremony at Waterworks Park last week. Mayor Gavin Buckley, City Manager David Jarrell and Recreation and Parks Director Archie Trader received the award for their work in allowing miles of hiking and cycling trails to be created by volunteers at Waterworks Park in Annapolis.
David Beugelmans, MORE board member and liaison for the Waterworks trail project , said, “MORE works with land managers at all levels of government in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia, and the City of Annapolis has been fantastic. Mayor Buckley came to us with a vision for this project and he, along with City Manager Jarrell and Director Trader, were integral in making this a reality.”
The project is one that Mayor Buckley not only championed, but regularly uses with friends, city staff and others lured by his enthusiasm for the trails – often not knowing the challenge they’re in for.
“It’s a City park that residents can now actually utilize. These hiker-biker trails are exactly what MORE promised they would be. It’s been a great partnership!” Buckley said.
Waterworks Park, located off Defense Highway, is a 600-acre parcel owned by the City, located outside City limits. The park is the location of the reservoir that was once the source of City drinking water. In the 1920s, the City began getting water from underground aquifers and retired the reservoir, which was little more than stormwater runoff that was held and piped to City faucets.
The Mayor’s vision is to eventually connect downtown Annapolis to Waterworks through an extension of the Poplar Trail and other hiker/biker trails including existing segments of Anne Arundel County’s South Shore Trail, and planned bikeway improvements to Bestgate and Housley Roads.
