Marinelli Park received its name from brothers James and Dominic Marinelli. Both of these brothers were born and raised within the borough of Downingtown. Both served our country in World War 2. Unfortunately, both paid the ultimate price in the line of duty, halfway across the world from one another. In remembrance of both of their heroic efforts, this park was dedicated to them.
One of the major problems with Park Run, the creek that runs through the center of the park, was that the flood waters had nowhere to go. As the stream flows through tight and narrow concrete corridors, sediment gets deposited vertically instead of horizontally across the floodplain. In order to weaken the flow of the higher flood waters, lowering the banks and allowing water to disperse across the floodplain was the first step.Adding physical barriers in the way of trees was just another easy way to mitigate flood water flow and energy.
We are excited to announce that we have added some new species to the forest buffer community as a whole. What we planted includes: river birch, red maple, silver maple, arrowwood viburnum, hornbeam (ironwood), serviceberry, white fringe tree, basswood, hackberry, silky dogwood, and American sycamore. Most of these species were chosen because of their fast growth rate, wet tolerance, and longevity (sycamore, red maple, river birch, hackberry, and basswood). The others were chosen because of their flowering appeal. Our vision was to add lots of heavy flowering plants near the parking lot side of Marinelli and build up the background with much larger trees. During peak season (May- mid July) the heavy blooms of the fringe trees and dogwoods along with the honey scented basswood should be drawing pollinators, birds, and small mammals alike to this little corner of Downingtown.
