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The Earth is a living, breathing,
ever-renewing system that gives us
food, water, shelter and beauty.
What do we give the Earth?
Earth Week, the fourth week in
April, gives us a chance to appreciate the
planet that supports us and to renew our commitment as
caretakers of the world. A perfect
place to celebrate Earth Week can be found
right in our own back yard—at Hillcrest Environmental Studies
Center.
Hillcrest is a 53-acre conservation
park owned by the Norwich City
School District and located at the top of
West Hill. Deer trails wind over the hills. Ducks feed on the pond.
Hardwoods and evergreens shade the homes of wild mammals. Canada
geese hide in the cattails of the marsh. Native plants grow in
abundance.
The area has not always been so
wild. The property’s historical
records reach back to just after the
Revolutionary War when speculators took possession of the land.
Charles York bought the property in 1818. For
nearly 60 years he farmed the land,
and the property came to be known
as the “York lot.”
During the hard years of the late
1870s, York lost the property through
foreclosure, and the land passed through several other hands over
the next 80 years.
The property bordered the old
Preston Road, which wound down the
steep face of West Hill. As the newer
Manley Road stole the traffic from the more dangerous Preston Road,
the old York lot became more and more isolated. No one farmed the
land, and nature gradually took it back.
In 1951, the Union Free School
District of the City and Town of Norwich
purchased the property from
then owners Joseph and Henrietta
Mundy for use as a conservation
study area. The park was heavily used by
the schools for science classes, swimming and recreational events
during the 50s and 60s.
As Kurt Beyer Pool and the Norwich High
School swimming pool came into use, activity at Hillcrest died off.
Eventually the center all but
faded from memory.
“It’s been the best-kept secret in
the Norwich City School District for the
past 20 years,” said Norwich High School Assistant Principal Michael
Prescott.
During the past two years, the
center has seen signs of activity once
more, as Prescott and a number of other district staff and students
gained interest in the facility
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Norwich Middle School English
teacher Earl Callahan received a
grant from the Catskill Teacher
Center in Oneonta to improve the
center. With this money, workers
have installed a gate to prevent
entrance by trespassers, posted the
property boundaries, rediscovered
and marked trails and opened the
pond’s sluiceway to control water
levels.
Many more projects remain to be
done, Callahan said, but in its
present state, the center is a tremendous
resource for students and other community members.
“It’s a community facility we all
can utilize,” Prescott said, “and its
possibilities are endless. All sorts of things can be done.”
For students, he explained, the
study center can be used for a
multitude of activities: ecological
and biological study, historical
investigations, painting and drawing, measuring distances, mapping
and as inspiration for creative writing.
Prescott added that opportunities
for use by non-school groups are
extensive as well. “It would be great for
scouting groups or the Chenango County Bird Club for example, to
utilize or any type of group or organization that wants to be
outdoors.”
Improvements to the center would
increase the possibilities for its use,
Prescott added. Projects discussed include developing more trails,
building a wooden walkway over the marsh and installing a bird blind
for observation of waterfowl.
Interested community members
have already become involved. A
class from BOCES has surveyed the
land. Conservation educators from
Rogers Environmental Education
Center in Sherburne have visited the site
and suggested many educational ideas.
To celebrate the beginning of
Earth Week, a group of teachers,
students and community members
will hold a work day at the park April 20,
with a rain date of April 27. Asplundh Tree Service Company will
donate wood chips and workers to help cover trails. Parents,
students and community members are invited to shovel chips and enjoy
the beauty of the park as well as the satisfaction of caring for the
Earth.
People will gather at 9 am. at
Hillcrest (See map for location).
Those who do riot wish to drive their
vehicle up the unimproved road to the center may leave their car’s
on Manley road and hike the short distance up to the Park. Prescott
said.
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