The honor was bestowed upon the borough by Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy.
At their Sept. 20th Flannel Formal Fundraiser, Collegeville Borough was honored by the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy as one of its 2024 Environmental Awardees for its partnership in creating the Welakamike Creekside Park and boat ramp.
The Municipal Award banner at the event laid out the history of the park’s development.
It began with an idea of providing boat access to the Perkiomen Creek, but a sewer project was occurring at the time. Furthermore, a hurricane unleashed the worst flooding the Perkiomen Valley had ever experienced at the time.
“However,” stated the Conservancy, “out of these hardships grew something truly beautiful. The creation of Welakamike Creekside Park is a quintessential example of what can be accomplished when dedicated groups are united behind a common goal.”
(Credit: CEDC)
(Credit: CEDC)According to the Collegeville Economic Development Corporation, the park was created through a joint effort involving grants from the Montgomery County Planning Commission, the PA Fish and Boat Commission, and a donation from Mark Marino, owner of The Duck Inn, as well as the work of others.
“(Collegeville) built upon the idea of merely building a boat ramp by fundraising to construct a community park around it, but they didn’t stop there,” wrote the Conservancy. “The Borough brought in its partners from Ursinus College and with them representatives from the Lenape Nation.”
The park was dedicated The Welakamike Creekside Park to honor the Delaware Tribe of Indians, the original inhabitants of Collegeville; “Welakamike” translates to “beautiful place” in the tribe’s language.
The GPS address of the park is 107 W. First Ave., Collegeville, and extends along the Perkiomen Creek from Main Street to roughly the end of the Collegeville Shopping Center.
It currently contains a parking lot, boat launch, and entrance to a cleared trail along the creek. Picnic tables will be installed early next year, per the EDC.
