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A half-mile woodland loop trail will be the first major addition to Delaware County’s newest and largest park.

The county unveiled its master plan Wednesday evening to restore and protect the 213-acre Delco Woods property in Marple Township.

At the sprawling property, 170 acres are forested and scattered with small streams, wetlands and wildlife. The woodland loop trail, once constructed, will be connected with existing unpaved trails.

“Whether you’re in a wheelchair, have a stroller, you’re running, you’re walking, everyone can come into this park and really get into the forested part and experience it,” Councilmember Elaine Schaefer said at the public meeting.

Due to funding woes and the ongoing eminent domain process, the journey to resurrect the former Don Guanella property will be a long one. County officials believe a phased approach will still be a great way to welcome the public.

“As everybody knows, we have some fiscal issues and we can’t invest in this beautiful plan right now,” Schaefer said. “It’s a long-term plan, but what our team has put together is a really great introduction to the park.”

Funding for the loop trail initiative would come by way of a $500,000 state conservation grant.

Establishing trail markings, improving vacant building security, drafting a park stormwater management plan and reaching a memorandum of understanding with a local BMX (bicycle motocross) group are among the other early action items.

A 2-acre BMX track already exists on the property. Volunteers have managed to upkeep the area for two decades. Delaware County officials want to preserve their work and formalize the relationship.

Future recreational development on the property could include a community recreation hub, a meadow and a pavilion. However, those multimillion-dollar-project modules are likely years away from coming to fruition.

Officials estimate total park development could hover upwards of $50 million, so the county plans to actively seek external grants and funding.

“We want to make sure that we can kind of go where the money might take us,” Delaware County Planning Director Gina Burritt said. “If we can find a good funding source, a good grant opportunity, there isn’t one particular order that things have to go into. We can move them around to make sure that we’re really maximizing the funding sources that are available to us and that’s how we’re going to proceed.”

The threat of development prompted Delaware County Council to acquire the beloved property from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia via eminent domain in 2021. It sat unused for years. Nearby residents, some of whom had already been organizing to protect it, applauded the county’s intervention. The property is the last forested section of open space on the eastern end of the county.

“The bulldozers were going to move,” Councilmember Kevin Madden said. “And the fact that that is not happening, the fact that we have this large, untouched piece of property that is so unique this close to the urban landscapes of Philadelphia — the fact that we took action and stopped that, we as a community — is a real legacy that we will leave for generations to come.”

The master plan came to life after extensive public participation. However, relationships between county council and its constituents nearly soured after officials explored the idea of using a 3-acre parcel of the property for a mental health facility. Following public outcry, the county ditched those plans in June 2024.

There were no major objections to the master plan at Wednesday evening’s public meeting.