Paradise Creek Nature Park will conserve one of the last stands of mature forest on the Elizabeth River, restore 10 acres of wetlands and provide a premiere site for education and appreciation of the river – now with the help of The Norfolk Foundation.

Southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider, The Norfolk Foundation on December 9 announced a gift to Elizabeth River Project of $50,000 to assist with final design and construction costs for Phase I of the nature park, scheduled to be completed by 2012. A Virginia Recreational Trails grant of $125,000 is helping fund two miles of trails, while the Virginia Port Authority plans to construct a $2 million project to dig out former river bed and return it to tidal wetlands at the site.

“This is a huge vote of confidence from The Norfolk Foundation, our region’s leading funder,” said Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, Executive Director of The Elizabeth River Project.

The Elizabeth River Project this month also selected Clough Harbour Associates, a leading park design firm, to prepare the final design and engineering specifications for Phase I. Clough Harbour Associates begins work on December 15. See Clough Harbour’s earlier Master Plan renderings for the park (pdf file).

The nature park will be Portsmouth’s third largest park and the only Portsmouth park designed primarily for nature appreciation by outdoor enthusiasts. Experts on behavior change identify public access as one of the leading keys to inspiring citizens to become active stewards of their rivers and bays, and the Paradise Creek Nature Park will provide the only public access to Paradise Creek and one of only a handful of readily accessible access points throughout the river Elizabeth River system.

Part of a larger project to restore the health of the Paradise Creek sub-watershed, the park represents the public access piece of more than 250 acres of conservation and restoration projects spearheaded by The Elizabeth River Project with many partners ranging from the US Navy, which is transforming Superfund landfills into a 70-acre wildlife mecca, to Giant Cement, which set aside 22 acres in a no-mow zone, and SPSA’s Refuse Derived Fuel Plant, which achieved international certification for its improved environmental management practices.

The waterfront property for the park was purchased by The Elizabeth River Project for $1.4 million, with lead grants from The Virginian-Pilot and The Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. Phase II of the park is planned to open by 2013 and will include an off-the-power-grid interpretive center, education pavilions and educational public art about river restoration.