Old Stage Park Restoration
Located at the end of South Old Stage Road is a 40 acre parcel owned by the city of Cave Junction known locally as the Old Stage Park. The true public name for the site is the Illinois Valley River Park. This land is a beautiful gem, if you can see beyond the minor problems that have prevented the city from utilizing the site as a maintained, open park. The main roadblock, as with all well-intended projects, would be lack of funding. The city just doesn't have it in the budget to restore.
This is where the FAC has stepped in. We believe that communities benefit from having park lands. You can never have enough "green" spaces set aside for the public to enjoy. The value restoring the park would bring to the community outweighs the financial cost to move the project along.
The FAC is currently pursuing donations to restore the park. So far support for the project has been positive. There have been many suggestions on what people would like to see happen at the park. Ideas include a disc golf course, memorial garden, botanical trail, picnic and BBQ areas.
Currently the area is over-run with invasive weeds and has been abused by people that choose to dump their waste irresponsibly.
The FAC wants to spearhead the project, but we feel it is not entirely up to us to create the plan for restoration. Instead, we feel that we can bring the community together to share what they feel the property should eventually become. FAC will welcome partnering with any group that shares our passion for restoring this property. We feel that the more say the community is given for our park, the more ownership the community will feel for the project. If the community is empowered, we feel the park will be a success.
