The City of Danville and the Westmoreland Neighborhood Organization held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday for the redevelopment of the former Westmoreland School property into Westmoreland Park.

“Westmoreland Park represents the strength, resilience, and unity of our community. Bringing this vision to life is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the Westmoreland Neighborhood Organization, our local residents, and the entire Danville community. We are excited to open this beautiful space for the community to enjoy,” said Clyde McCoy, WNO President.

While addressing the crowd Mayor Alonzo Jones touted the increase in parks in the city.

“A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the ribbon cutting for the Third Avenue Splash Pad, in a couple of weeks we are going to celebrate another ribbon cutting at the Doyle J. Thomas Splash Park. In a couple more weeks groundbreaking will take place at Ballou Park for another huge splash park and today we are here no longer at Westmoreland Playground, but we’re at Westmoreland Park. Our parks and our playgrounds are back,” said Jones.

In 2016, the Westmoreland Neighborhood Organization began working with the City of Danville and Danville Regional Foundation to improve the playground and shelter facilities on the former Westmoreland School property to better accommodate neighborhood recreation needs and special neighborhood events. In January 2017, a professional landscape architect, Site Collaborative, was engaged to work with neighborhood stakeholders to develop a park program, master plan, and preliminary costs for improvements on the property. An inclusive planning process to help determine the improvements and share their ideas for upgrades and facilities was executed.

The Westmoreland Neighborhood Organization continued fundraising efforts and thanks to the generosity of Danville Regional Foundation, the City of Danville, J.T. Minnie Maude Charitable Trust, the Community Foundation of the Dan River Region, the Womack Foundation, and many other foundation, corporate, and individual donors, construction is nearly complete. Fundraising efforts will continue to support future enhancements to the park, including a walking trail, additional seating, and other amenities. Westmoreland Park will be maintained by the City of Danville Parks and Recreation as a neighborhood park, open to all residents of Danville.