East Penn Township's Riverview Park has become a lot more scenic since last summer.

According to Recreation Committee Chairman, Hal Resh, the park adjacent to the Lehigh River has undergone many revisions with more improvements to be added in coming months.Located on Riverview Road, just left off Launch Road, the area already includes six ponds, hiking trails, a playground, a pavilion and an 18-hole disc-golf course."We have gotten more done in the past few months than we have in years," he said. "The old board just said 'no,' to everything. Now it's really started to come around. We added more grass and picnic area and started renting out the pavilion," Resh said.Residents of East Penn and Bowmanstown have come together to brain storm ideas and roll up their sleeves to work on the park's new functionality."Eagle Scouts came here and cleared and cleaned up some of the brush on the trails. We've had a Bowmanstown resident come over and put in a horseshoe pit and another East Penn resident volunteer to paint the old playground equipment."According to Resh, an outdoor classroom for teachers to bring students will be added to the area. A softball field, putting green and soccer field are just a few other concepts that have been kicked around for future projects.The Recreation Committee has been researching different grants to help fund these upgrades with the township receiving a DCNR grant of $3,400 and an additional $3,400 from the Fish and Game Commission for a vault toilet.A program is also underway to have four inmates come to the park to cut and clear brush from the trails and riverbanks."We would have to pay for their lunch and transportation," said East Penn Township's Supervisor Board Chairman William Schwab during May's meeting. He told the board he would be meeting with the Wildlands Conservancy this May to discus additional funding for improvements.Resh said the park project began seven years ago, but it's been during the past six months the ball has really been rolling to improve the usability."The new board has really opened up possibilities for us. As long as we aren't costing the township money they have been saying 'yes,' " said Resh."We said, 'we have something here and we need to improve it.' "New trails have been created, signs have been posted and benches have been added to the previously sparse park."At any given time there are people here," Resh said. "People come here to walk or bring their dogs to walk. It's dangerous to walk along those highways."Several activities are scheduled to be hosted in the park, including Lunkerfest and the annual Lehigh River Sojourn that will pull into the boat launch for overnight camping. The Recreation Committee meets the last Wednesday every month in the park at 7 p.m. Resh urges the public to attend and voice their ideas for the space."With the past board we had to just wait and see, but now, I really think this is going to be a good year for us."