John B. Wengert’s long-held dream will finally come true this spring.
That’s when the four-acre John E. Wengert Memorial Park, which pays tribute to his father, will be dedicated and opened to the public. A tentative dedication date is being eyed to coincide with Earth Day 2025 on April 22.
The park is named for John E. Wengert, the late dairy farmer and founding chair and first president of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy, which is a partner in the project. The project’s first phase is estimated to cost $850,000.
Located across from the former Lebanon Catholic High School and adjacent to the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, Wengert, who is president of the county’s rail trail organization, said the park has been more than a decade in the making.
“He was a big community-minded guy, to say the least. He was active in the United Way, YMCA, Rotary and then eventually the conservancy. He was a founding board member and the first president of the conservancy. And so, you know, he’s been gone since 2013, which is hard to believe,” said John. “Shortly after he passed away the conservancy board members were talking about trying to do something to memorialize his leadership and that’s where this all started.”
Abigail Harvey, president of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy, said the park’s construction coincides with a special anniversary of the service organization.
“This year we are actually celebrating our 25th anniversary, and so there’s been a lot reminiscing and talk about how we honor those that came before us and set the groundwork for what we are able to do now and John Wengert being not only a founding board member but the first president of the organization,” she said. “This is a really great way to commemorate that leadership as John said, but also just show the community that people that do contribute and put in that hard work and do the things for the community, that doesn’t go unnoticed.
“And I think people that have an impact like that should be memorialized in a meaningful and impactful way that continues to give back to the community, because that’s the spirit in which they lived.”
Phase 1 is nearing completion as workout equipment and a nearby playground, which also pays tribute to Wengert’s Dairy, have been installed at the park. The park sits between Chestnut and Cumberland streets and runs from 12th to 16th street in Lebanon city.
“One component of it is this playground. The second component that’s been installed is the fitness stations, which are about halfway down on the right,” said Wengert during a recent visit with a LebTown reporter and photographer. “And of course the (paved) rail trail goes through the whole thing. That part is finished.”
An interesting feature inside the playground area is the paved macadam highway that’s been painted with traffic lanes and various signage to teach children the rules of the road they need to know as bicyclists.
Read More: Wengert Memorial Park packs big vision in small site, new anchor for rail trail
“This is what they refer to in the design as the traffic garden because it mimics highways and roads for kids to learn some things, safety type things, concerning bicycle safety,” said Wengert, a bicycle enthusiast himself. “The facades here started as just ordinary town building facades but then we decided to make it kind of like a dairy theme. That’s why we have the (Wengert’s) logo. There’s several dairy aspects including the logo that’s supposed to look like the front entrance to the dairy back in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”
While the playground and workout station will officially open next spring – after lighting for nighttime use is installed – more work will occur in and around the playground, which includes a pavilion for people to have picnics. The pavilion is under roof but also has some work to be done before it is completed.
Wengert and others are currently searching for a milk delivery truck like the ones Wengert’s used in the mid-1900s. Once purchased, the truck will be installed at the park.
“And then we’re gonna have a milk bottle sculpture here somewhere. A big milk bottle silhouette,” said Wengert. “And I have a few other ideas. This is going to be a long-term project developing over the next several years. Obviously, there’s a lot of space to fill.”
Now that the park is taking shape with the installation of the dairy buildings, community members are taking ownership of the project, according to Wengert.
“I had two people here ask me about it last week, one of which was a driver that’s been here quite a while, I’d say 30-plus years, and he was asking me what it was all about and what we were doing. And then we were talking about the dairy aspects of it,” said Wengert. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, you need to get a milk truck down there.’ I was like, “Oh, wow. Yeah, that would be cool. Kids will love that.’”
Wengert said that comment put the wheels in motion to obtain the body of an old milk truck to restore to its former glory.
“So we’ve been online now. I’ve mentioned it to a few of my friends and everybody’s like taking it on now. It’s not easy to find, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “’Cause all we really need, we don’t want a fixed up one. We want a body that we can just paint and restore. Kids can crawl inside; it doesn’t even have to have wheels. We will just mount it so it looks like an old-time delivery truck.”
Wengert said the idea for the workout station came, in part, from public input.
“The landscape architect that’s doing the job is called YSM Group out of York. And as part of the process, they held a series of public meetings to get input on what people wanted to see in the park. It was a public input process,” he said. “And then they built a lot of parks, so YSM is pretty well known for playgrounds and they kind of know what’s popular. We went with a combination of public input and their professional advice, basically.”
Harvey likes the workout station because it gives exercise enthusiasts an outdoor option to get in a workout.
“I think it’s nice to also just create access for wellness activities,” she said. “I think that’s what people want to see is more equitable access to those types of things. And this park helps with that.”
Other aesthetically-pleasing attributes of the park will be a wildflower garden planted along the hillside between the park and Chestnut Street, a metal sculpture erected along the rail trail and grasses planted throughout the park. A massive four-ton sculpture will be a point of interest while acknowledging local manufacturing. The metal gear’s origin has not been determined.
“We’re going to mount it, I think, this way so that’s facing the trail,” said Wengert. “We originally were going to put it on an axle and have it actually move but then we thought about that and thought that’s probably not the best idea in the world.”
Given its proximity to the Quittapahilla Creek, which bisects the park, an emphasis will be placed on clean water education.
“With the park’s proximity to the Quittapahilla Creek, that’s in line with our goals for keeping water clean and having green space near waterways,” said Harvey. “One of the big things for us was having access to outdoor space and wellness activities. And the educational piece with the traffic garden, with bicycle safety, especially with how many riders we do have in Lebanon. I think that just is something that the conservancy wanted to get involved with and support on top of the fact that this is a founding member and a president from our early days.”
John said he believes his father would love the park – especially its tribute to the dairy industry.
“As far as the actual facility and the actual park, yeah, he would love it – especially the dairy parts that we included, ’cause he was a big collector of dairy memorabilia and milk bottles and advertising and all that stuff,” he added.
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