The original 13 acres of the present 43 acre Bloomsburg Town Park were purchased in 1927 by 30 Bloomsburg residents, each of them contributing $750 toward the sale price. This was the final project of the "Greater Bloomsburg" program of the Roaring Twenties which was spearheaded by the late Paul R. Eyerly, Sr. and opened in 1923 when a drive raised sufficient funds to put the boulevard lights on Main Street, removing all overhead utility wires and permanent awnings in the business district. This project was followed by a drive that led to the construction of the main building of the present hospital and another for the construction of the Bloomsburg Public Library on Market Square.
Around two years after the purchase of the first park tract, the 1929 stock market crash was experienced and then followed the depression of the thirties and World War II. During the travel restrictions of the conflict, those in charge of outings searched for spots within walking distance. The Rev. Robert Roberts, then pastor of the Church of the Nazarene, East Seventh Street, noticed a grove in the park and booked a church organization outing there. Other groups followed suit.
In the years immediately following WW II, Little League baseball began here. The first contests were at the fairgrounds. Those in charge wanted a pitching mound and some other diamond changes that didn't fit into the level ground needs of the fair. So the late John Church, then a Bloomsburg councilman, and some others went to the park, found a spot pretty close to where the Little League fields are today and built a diamond. The then active Bloomsburg Athletic Boosters took over the task of building a fine field. It was laid out by the late Reg Robison. His death occurred shortly thereafter and when the field was opened it was called "Reg Robison Memorial Field" in merited tribute to this man.
Everyone was talking about WW II memorials and the emphasis was on "livier memorials." So they hit upon the idea of building a swimming pool. The thought was to build it in the park and to acquire more land for the recreation facility. The Waller family was at that time engaged in selling off a substantial tract along the river in lots. Charles Wellay, an attorney in Wilkes-Barre, was approached and the family put forth the proposition that if the town would agree to put into the deed that the land in the transaction would never be used for other than park purposes the owners would total the price of the lots in the tract and then cut that price in half in making the sale to the town. This was done. Another five acres, these in the northwest corner, were just a hole in the ground. Loam had been removed from it by the old Bloomsburg Brick Co. No deed of record could be found so the park condemned the plot, got a deed, was accorded cooperation by the town which used it as a dump until the hole was filled and then covered it with top soil for a splendid addition. The cost of additional land and other needed improvements were added to the goal in the swimming pool drive which was headed by Robert B. Nearing who had just arrived in town to be cashier of the First National Bank (now PNC Bank).
The cost for pool construction was $115,000 but the total sought was much higher. There were two drives and each had success but neither reached the goal. This was financed through the Bloomsburg Pool Authority and was paid off through earnings of the pool. The earnings were substantial due in large measure to the fact that Norris E. Rock had donated his services as pool manager from the time it opened in 1954 through 1989 when he died. In these years he provided free services that could not have been purchased for considerably over $100,000.
The first improvement to park land was placing of concrete pipe to carry water from Kinney Run to the river. In the last USO drive of WW II the goal was surpassed by $3,500. That had been the pattern of war drives and the over subscription had been given to the agency in whose name the campaign had been conducted. But in this campaign it was decided to give the quote and retain the balance for the placing of the pipe inasmuch as the park overall was a memorial to those of WW II who made the supreme sacrifice and as a testimonial to all who served. At the time of the original gift of land, Miss Sarah VanTassel, one of the public-spirited thirty who provided the purchase money, went further and employed an architect to draw plans for the development of the park. The drawings included construction of a pagoda-type structure that could also be used as a bandstand or a stage.
By the time development of the park got underway the tastes and demands in park use had changed considerably. In recent years the park received over $10,000 from the estate of Miss VanTassel. When the corporate funds were distributed, they provided much of the cost of placing of pipe from the lagoon to where the pipe had been laid three decades earlier as the first improvement of the park. The recently completed laying of the pipe extension and the fill in that area has opened a path within the park between the swimming pool and picnic area and removed the necessity of traveling River Road, commonly called Ft. McClure Boulevard, when going from one point to another.
A great factor in the park development has been the work day program held annually in mid-May. In the early years when there was much to do to carve a park out of the land, there would be a fortune in heavy equipment on hand, with all donated and some of the donors even paying for their own gas.
The main picnic area, east of Market Street, had a huge hole with its center about where the main grill is now located. Hundreds, some supplied by local industry and other volunteers on their own, worked in those early years and accomplished much.
For the past decade or so youngsters have provided most of the park labor. There is still plenty to engage adults but the big job is painting fences, weeding flower beds and chores of that nature which are performed by the boys and girls.
There are picnic pavilions in the park. One was provided by the Bloomsburg Kiwanis, another is a memorial to Janet Vietig, long active in the park, by Fred Vietig who also provided the landscaping and all other phases in connection with the pavilion and the Shuman pavilion, given by that estate as a memorial by the late Margaret Shuman to her husband, Clyde S. Shuman.
The Little League program has been carried on by that organization and broadened. There is now a midget field and also a senior field. This unit has pretty well financed its own Association which gave $1,000 toward the program.
In the early years no attempt was made to put all of the land in use at once. There were no finances available to do this. During that period Fred Vietig farmed land not used so that the park had some financial return from this tract.
The first tennis courts where provided by the Bloomsburg Lions Club. Later the park built another court. Immediately west of Market Street, the park macadamized a tract as an all-purpose area and with the thought it be used for ice skating in winter. It did well as a rink, but the expanding ice ruined the beveled blacktop curbing. So a concrete curb was put around the area. It was then learned that it would be more practical to use the lagoon for ice skating and the all-purpose area was improved so that it can be used as tennis or basketball courts and there is considerable activity through the year.
Investment in the park in cash and labor given is conservatively estimated at well over $300,000. Through the years the town has given substantial aid in maintenance but all improvements have been made possible through volunteer efforts.
The park suffered greatly in the Agnes Flood of 1972 and received in state and federal grants $93,500 to restore the park and also to put utilities lines underground.
The park is managed by the board of directors of the Town Park Improvement Association and anyone who has contributed to the park is regarded a member of the association.
The income for park development in recent years has been largely concentrated in the spring fund drive which in the past six years or more has averaged from $5,000 to $7,000 and from the Ice Cream & Cake Festival, held the first Thursday in August, which in two of the last three years has netted the park $3,400. There have also been some bequests which have been of aid and real boosts to the program done each year through the gifts of individuals and organizations to certain projects within the park.
To mention any individuals or groups would mean leaving out some who deserve such recognition and so no attempt will be made to give credit.
It is a certainty that no project within the history of the town has been the recipient of so much support from young and old, boys and girls, men and women as has Bloomsburg Town Park and that is the reason it has progressed so rapidly. There is also a pride in the statement, "We did it ourselves." There have been great accomplishments to date and similar achievements are going to mark the future if the present spirit of pride and cooperation prevails.