It was almost as if the birds were in on the script.

Diana Martin, executive director for Partners for Environmental Stewardship, hiked along Sunnyside Peninsula recently, extolling the virtues of a pocket of Lancaster city formed by a bend in the Conestoga River. Abundant wildlife is among those virtues, she said. Seconds later a great blue heron rose from the bank of the Conestoga River on Martin’s right. A green heron took off across a quarry lake on her left.

“I should have brought my binoculars,” Martin said as she watched a third bird soar over the lake toward a wooded hillside where nonprofit Partners for Environmental Stewardship hopes to break ground in 2027 on a planned $36 million to $40 million environmental center.

That hope got one step closer to reality this month when Lancaster City Council unanimously approved a nearly 99-year ground lease agreement with Partners for Environmental Stewardship. That gives the nonprofit a green light to use roughly nine acres on Sunnyside for a yet-to-be-named environmental center. The lease commits the city to keeping 70 acres on Sunnyside as a preserve during that time.

Partners for Environmental Stewardship, which incorporated in East Lampeter Township in August 2023, was the only organization that responded to a request for a proposals that same year when the city sought collaborators to help establish a preserve.

High Foundation has committed $10 million to the project, per a release from the nonprofit.

High “is investing in the center because we believe in creating lasting benefits – for our environment, our neighborhoods and future generations,” the release quotes Foundation Chair S. Dale High as saying. “High Foundation is about building a healthier, more vibrant community for all.”

The rest of the money for the center is expected to come through philanthropic support and state and federal grants, per the release. Fundraising efforts are on the horizon, Martin said.

Martin also serves as director of High Impact, the High Foundation’s initiative to advance affordable housing and environmental sustainability. She began her education at a nature-themed preschool in Lancaster and today has an MBA in sustainable leadership and a master’s in sustainable food systems.

READ: Nature preserve and environmental center form Lancaster city’s vision for Sunnyside peninsula

Ideas for nature access

At a recent city council meeting, Martin made sure to mention that Sunnyside is home to 89 bird species.

“I just fell in love with Sunnyside,” Martin said as she walked there recently. “Every time I’m here I discover something new. There’s a lot of ecological potential. And history plays a really important part in this site.”

The former Brenner rock quarry, which flooded, is part of that.

The quarry lake has attracted thousands of snow geese. It has also claimed lives. In 2002, two 22-year-old men drowned there. It took divers three weeks to find their bodies in 100 feet of water. A shrine dedicated to the men still stands at the quarry entrance off Pleasant Street.

“Obviously there are safety concerns and we’re considering the best use of this resource,” Martin said about the lake.

Kayak access to the Conestoga is close to definite. One with required life preservers has been discussed for the lake. So have floating wetlands.

“I also think it would be really amazing to do some sort of boardwalk or floating dock for people to get out on the water, if there’s a way we can safely do that,” Martin said. “We won’t know that until we get further along in the master planning process.”

As she talks, Martin stands on a rocky spillway that the city created to divert water during heavy rain events. One this summer submerged the spillway, channeling from the Conestoga millions of gallons of water that might otherwise have ended up in basements, she said.

Flood plain issues are a key reason that affordable housing efforts proposed for the peninsula never transpired, Martin said.

“Development (on Sunnyside) has been difficult to crack,” City Council President Amanda Bakay said during a recent councilmeeting. “And I’m appreciative that this includes an element of preserving the nature that exists there.”

READ: Lancaster city has a new plan for residents to access parks and open space

Escape from the city in the city

Council Member Jaime Arroyo, Democratic nominee for the city’s next mayor, said he’d never stepped foot on much of Sunnyside until taking part this summer in one of the tours that PES is hosting. That’s despite Arroyo growing up not far away in the city’s Southeast.

“It was very hard to believe that was in the middle of Lancaster city,” Arroyo said.

In 1980 – before Arroyo was born – the Lancaster New Era ran an article headlined “So how did Sunnyside get this way?”

That began by describing parties at summer cottages in the early 1900s.

“Gradually, Sunnyside evolved from a summertime vacation spot for the well-to-do into a year-round community for the less fortunate,” wrote the newspaper.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Sunnyside began its decline, but many old-timers say it was during the Depression and its aftermath,” the article continued. “Squatters and transients settled in the neighborhood, moving into vacant homes or constructing crude shacks on small patches of land.”

The 1930s brought headlines like “Bootleggers in gun battle at Sunnyside” and a pledge from a district attorney to drive out speakeasies from what the New Era referred to at the time as a “so-called notorious colony.”

The 1950s brought news coverage of resident objections to a pig farmer from Willow Street hauling in old box cars to rent out as Sunnyside homes. Upset Sunnyside residents then pushed for the land to be annexed from West Lampeter Township and got their wish.

But articles in later years continued to use the word “neglected.” More than one compared Sunnyside to Appalachia.

Sunnyside was a key component of the city’s 2023 comprehensive plan. Chris Delfs, the city’s director of community planning and economic development, remindedcity council of that during a recent meeting.

“It really has been a privilege to work on this project. It’s truly an innovative and exemplary public-private partnership,” Delfs said. “The preserve and environmental center are really intended to serve as foundational community assets for generations to come.”

Martin echoed that sentiment as she stepped onto a street that marks the edge of the preserve. The number of families who live on Sunnyside dropped dramatically over the years. Those who remain live in homes one might expect to see in countless other neighborhoods around Lancaster County. It’s a tight-knit community, Martin said.

“When you’re doing a big project like this right next door, you’re always hopeful that the reception is positive,” she said.

Martin said so far it has been with the residents she’s talked to.

“There have been a lot of proposals for what to do with Sunnyside. And from what I’ve heard from the neighbors, this feels like the right fit,” she said. “Because for many of them, the reason they’re here is they want to feel like they’re in the woods.”

READ: Self-storage units approved for proposed Sunnyside housing development

Housing plan hearing set

A $25 million development called Sycamore Ridge is proposed to replace a 10-acre former junkyard just north of the existing Sunnyside neighborhood.

Developers Joe Mugavero and Mark Peteritas, who purchased the land for $650,000 in January, have said they are planning two- and three-bedroom houses that would average 1,200 square feet and list for around $350,000 each.

The Planning Commission is holding a hearing on Sycamore Ridge on Sept. 17. Tony Dastra, who is a nonvoting alternate on the planning commission, spoke to city council about that recently. The high-profile project will garner attention, said Dastra, who announced in April that he’d be a Green Party candidate for mayor and also plans to run for City Council as an independent.

“I do trust that the stewards of this land are also going to be mindful of that. But we also have to make sure we are constantly looking at ourselves and each other,” Dastra said. “Because this … might be some of the biggest investment made in the community since that part of town was redlined.”

The pendulum could easily swing, Dastra said.

“And I would hate for this great project to end up gentrifying the community that surrounds it,” he said.

Martin said she spoke to Dastra after the meeting.

“I told him I think this neighborhood and community deserves nice things,” she said.

Community involvement will be key, she added.

“The Southeast has a rich history and deserves to have access to green space, and pipelines to green jobs and learning opportunities for their kids,” she said.

Martin said she envisions opportunities for those served by Lancaster County’s Youth Intervention Center on Sunnyside, which will be an easy walk from the environmental center. And she imagines buses bringing countless school kids, some of whom she’s confident will see their first turtle on Sunnyside.

She counts the peninsula’s imperfections among its virtues.

“There’s been all this human impact here, which makes it a great site to bring people out to do environmental education,” Martin said. “You can see some of the scars of that human impact. But you also can see how nature continues to bounce back.”

AT A GLANCE Coming together: Much of the proposed environmental center will be open to the public. It is expected to also include office space for seven “anchor organizations”: Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay; the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Lancaster Clean Water Partners; Lancaster Conservancy; RegenAll; Stroud Water Research Center and Water Science Institute. Master site plan: The Philadelphia-based landscape architecture firm Andropogon is spearheading a plan for the preserve, which is to be implemented by the city. The plan – expected to be completed by spring of 2026 – will look at things like trails and boat launches, interpretive education and ecological restoration. Center design: Lancaster-based Greenfield Architects is leading design on the environmental center and intends to meet high standards of sustainable design, incorporating renewable energy generation, advanced water management systems and responsibly sourced materials. Greenfield did the renovation and addition on the S. Dale High Leadership Center. The firm’s portfolio also includes projects like the Crossings at Conestoga Creek, Penn State Health’s Lancaster Pediatric Center and Messiah University’s welcome center and its worship and performing arts center. Want to check it out? There aren’t hiking trails yet on the land but Partners for Environmental Stewardship has started hosting free tours. Space is limited and registration is required. The next tours are at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 and 4 p.m. Oct. 20 with tickets available at eventbrite.com.