Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 157, No. 27
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
$1.50
Kennett Square Borough gives notice that it may leave regional Fire and EMS Commission By HaLeigh Abbott Contributing Writer Kennett Square Borough Council has passed a resolution giving formal notice that the borough will leave the Regional Fire and EMS Commission effective December 31, 2023. The special council meeting was held at Borough Hall on June 29, and the resolution was unanimously agreed to by the present council members. Two council members, Bob
INSIDE
Norris and Mayra Zavala, were absent during the meeting. The Regional Fire and EMS Commission has been a contentious subject due to increasing costs of the services. Since 2018, Kennett Square Borough’s contribution has increased by 80 percent and is currently $457,957 for 2023. A review by the contracted consulting firm, Fitch & Associates, estimated costs to rise to over $700,000 in
2024. The Kennett Fire and Emergency Management Services Regional Commission is an independent body formed in 2017. The mission is to lessen the burden on local governments by providing collaboration between municipalities, and combining resources and funds for the provision of fire, rescue and emergency services. Kennett Square Borough and the Kennett Fire Department are both
Oxford Borough nearing completion of Active Transportation Plan By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
Greenville & Hockessin Life
Oxford Borough Council has been diligently working on an Active Transportation Plan with Anthony Valencia and Brian Donovan from McMahon, a Bowman Company, for a number of months now. Valencia and Donovan have attended First Fridays and other events to meet and greet residents, shoppers and business owners in an effort to secure their comments and suggestions on that plan. Andrew Wyeth exhibit On the Borough’s webto open at Brandywine site, oxfordboro.org, both Museum of Art...1B surveys and an interactive map have been created to
give everyone an opportunity to comment or make suggestions. Borough manager Pauline Garcia-Allen said, “We really need everyone’s input in order for this project to be successful.” The surveys and interactive maps online were created to solicit comments from residents, shoppers, and business owners in the borough to help them identify areas in Oxford to improve the ability for residents and visitors to walk, roll, or bike and to access public transportation. A presentation was made to the council and public regarding the feedback received thus far. Obstacles that keep
part of the commission as separate entities. A six-month notice to leave is required by the commission, but the Borough Council hopes to utilize this time to work collaboratively Continued on page 2A Photo by HaLeigh Abbott
AJ McCarthy, the Chief of the Longwood Fire Company, spoke during public comment about the future of the regional fire and EMS commission that serves the Kennett Square area municipalities.
FROM OUR LENS A summer shower at Longwood Gardens
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Silas Parks of Lancaster enjoyed the benefits of a water fountain at Longwood Gardens’ Children’s Corner with his brother, mother and grandmother on June 28. To learn about the many activities for families at Longwood Gardens this summer, visit www.longwoodgardens.org.
Continued on page 2A
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A new glass conservatory and Mediterranean Garden nearing completion; project scheduled to open in the fall of 2024
‘Reimagined’ expansion taking shape at Longwood Gardens By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer From its 1,100 acres of manicured flower beds, interactive gardens, towering fountain displays and majestic meadows, Longwood Gardens has become a destination known for its pristine beauty, not for its blemishes.
For those who have visited this gemstone of activity over the last year, however, it has been difficult to avoid the 17-acre blemish in the northwest region of the site, but rest assured, it is only a temporary one that once complete will further solidify Longwood Gardens as one of the world’s most prestigious centers for hor-
ticultural appreciation and education. Continued on page 2A Photo courtesy of Longwood Gardens
This aerial photograph shows the continuing progress being made on the construction of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2024.
Museum to be open to the public on the County officials first Sunday of every month applaud news that Local historian opens West Penn Medicine Grove History Center to plans to buy honor, educate town Brandywine Hospital By Gabbie Burton Contributing Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
Penn Medicine is buying Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville. The facility has been shuttered since last year, when Tower Health closed the hospital as part of a larger effort to cut costs. The closure left the western part of Chester County
without an emergency room, and reduced access to inpatient and outpatient care for local residents. It was announced last week that the two health systems had signed a letter of intent for Penn Continued on page 3A
The West Grove History Center’s grand opening on July 2 revealed the story of the town through relics and memorabilia collected by local historian and author R. Scott Steele.
Steele, a West Grove native, has been building the collection for over 45 years, and welcomed over 240 guests to the former contractor shop turned museum on Prospect Avenue during the two-day opening weekend. “It’s a collection of objects and manuscripts that tell us
the story of the town,” Steele said. Steele hopes the exhibit and all it contains will convey to attendees the significance of the men and women who grew West Grove from the village it was to the borough that it now is. The Continued on page 3A