The Glynn Environmental Coalition, Inc., along with concerned citizens, have launched an effort to save St. Simons Island’s Twitty Park, a 92-year-old park at the corners of Frederica and Sea Island Roads that contains some of Glynn County’s most iconic live oak trees. The park, originally gifted for the benefit of Glynn County residents, is again under threat from development.
 
In 1924, Mr. T.L. Cain gifted what is now known as Twitty Park in trust to Glynn County, for the benefit of local citizens and the State of Georgia. Georgia law requires Glynn County to hold and maintain this park in public trust.
 
“St. Simons Island’s unspoiled beaches, rivers, marshlands, live oaks and general topography have attracted many local residents and vacationers to this little 18-square-mile island,” said Frank Lea, Glynn Environmental Coalition president. “We are acting to preserve Twitty Park for the benefit of the citizens of Glynn County and the State of Georgia by compelling Glynn County to enforce the public park requirements of the Cain family’s original gift.”
 
Glynn County plans to cut down some of the park’s live oaks and turn the crossroads of Frederica and Sea Island into a road project that will cost nearly $5 million.
 
The lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of Glynn County by Glynn County resident Jane Fraser and the Glynn Environmental Coalition, Inc. asks the court to declare that Twitty Park is a public park that must be maintained by Glynn County into perpetuity.
 
“The Twitty Park lawsuit asks the Georgia Courts to declare that Glynn County must maintain the land and live oaks at Frederica and Sea Island as a public park as it was when dedicated by the Cain family in 1924,” said Lea. “This is about preserving St. Simons Island’s legacy for future generations. Glynn County is at a crossroads -- literally and figuratively. Will it serve the public’s interests?”
 
Twitty Park, known as the living gateway to Sea Island, is constantly enjoyed by pedestrians, cyclists, passing motorists, and local arborists and naturalists.