World Friendship Pocket Park Project Offers Residents The Opportunity To Purchase Engraved Bricks To Adorn The Park

The Friendship Capital of The World Project is inclusive of all races, ages, socio-economic status, and abilities. Summerville’s promotion of friendship and acts of kindness are an equal opportunity to all persons who choose to participate. It requires no money, special qualifications, or abilities to show acts of friendship, and kindness to others. The last week in July is now declared Friendship Week in Summerville, which concludes with a Friendship Festival in J.R. “Dick” Dowdy Park.

To bring this project to the next level, Summerville Main Street is heading up The World Friendship Pocket Park Project. The pocket park will be located across from the Summerville Depot and will encompass the Jon Payne Pavilion. The park was designed by Nikki Benefield, a Main Street Board Member who studied landscape architecture at the University of Georgia. Special features of the planned park will include a “Solid Rock of World Friendship” to be surrounded by engraved bricks, a flag pole to be adorned with The World Friendship Flag, a wide variety of colorful plantings to be accentuated by up lighting, an irrigation system, and an upgraded seating area under the pavilion. Seed money for this project was donated by John Turner and Dan Lipscomb with hopes of the pocket park becoming a focal point and photo spot for locals, as well as visitors.  

Summerville Main Street is offering a unique opportunity to remember a loved one, commemorate an event, or immortalize anything else important to you. The “Buy a Brick” campaign will raise funds for the construction of The World Friendship Pocket Park while also highlighting and remembering “friends” of our community.  Each 4” x 8″ engraved brick, which includes 3 lines of text with 20 characters per line, are currently beingsold for the cost of $100.

To purchase a brick, you may order a brick in person at the Summerville Main Street Offic during normal business hours.Brick order forms may be downloaded from the City of Summerville website at www.summervillega.org or you mayrequest an order form by emailing slocklear@summervillega.org.Bricks are limited. The deadline to order bricks is July 12, or until the bricks are sold out. Please note that there is a 4 to 6 weeks turn around for the commemorative bricks to be made, and delivered, once the finalorder is placed. Engraved bricks are anticipated to be back around the end of August to be installed.

A special ground breaking event for the pocket park is scheduled for July 30 during the 2022 Friendship Festival. Completion of The World Friendship Pocket Park is anticipated to be fall of 2022. For more information on this project please contact Summerville Main Street.