Lewes open space campaign meeting set May 24

Local residents have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help preserve 120 acres of pristine land in Lewes.

Campaign leaders for the new Lewes open space preservation project will host an initial public information meeting at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, at Lewes Public Library.

This will be the first of numerous meetings to be held with communities across the greater Lewes area in order to engage local residents in the effort to save 29 acres of the Fourth Street Forest in Lewes and the 89-acre Ard na Gréine property between Savannah Road and New Road just outside Lewes. 

The project represents a partnership between the Greater Lewes Foundation and Sussex County Land Trust.

Hosts are being sought to help coordinate their communities’ meetings. A new website will process donations. Attendees may also make tax-deductible gifts at the May 24 meeting. 

To acquire both tracts of land, some $18.3 million must be raised by Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, with $4,950,000 of that needed from private individual and business donations. An anonymous $1 million donation has already been made toward the latter objective. 

“This is the largest public/private initiative to be undertaken locally, and one of the most significant and long-lasting for our region,” said Jim Ford, chair of the foundation’s open space alliance.

For more information, contact Pam Costanzi, campaign director, at 302-644-0107.