Norton Commons to add new green spaces for 20th anniversary
With the 20th anniversary of its origination approaching, Norton Commons, the growing, specially designed urban community on the East End, has announced the addition of several key new amenities, including a large wildflower meadow and a companion community garden.
“The new green spaces will be both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally beneficial,” said Marilyn Osborn Patterson, the community's marketing director and legal counsel.
She said the areas "will bring together residents of all ages to share in the harvests of vegetables and herbs. It’s the next extension of our farm-to-fork initiatives that began two years ago, when we launched our farmers’ market.”
The three-acre wildflower meadow and the slightly smaller community garden are located near Bergamot Drive and Chamberlain Lane, just west of the Norton Commons amphitheater and lake.
Osborn Patterson said in an interview Tuesday that the wildflower meadow has been graded and that the site will be seeded soon. The site will incorporate species native to the state and will include many of the varieties for which the community streets are named.
The meadow will be in concert with nature and will enhance and attract pollinators, birds and butterflies, she said.
The community garden will be turned over to residents for use next week. It will have more than 30 plots, nearly all of which have already been spoken for. The Norton Commons Neighborhood Association management staff and volunteers will oversee the garden.
The new amenities are part of more than 160 acres of planned green and civic spaces at Norton Commons — including nature trails, a rose garden, three dog parks, a bocce court, a town center, playscapes and picnic areas.
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In May 2017, the community will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original design charrette at which dozens of noted landscape architects and planners laid out initial plans for the 600-acre community in northeast Jefferson County.
Osborn Patterson said that Norton Commons currently has about 1,200 residences of all shapes, types and sizes, with a population of more than 3,500 -- plus more than 60 businesses and three schools, in addition to its many community facilities.
She said the community is barely half developed, based on the original design. She said she expects full development will take another 10 to 12 years.
For information, visit nortoncommons.com.
Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.
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