REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach has been a fixture in the city for more than 100 years. Now, concerns over the health and safety of its trees have temporarily closed the park and forced the weekly farmers' market to find a new home.
The park has been closed for about a week after a team from the Delaware Department of Agriculture's Forest Service examined its trees Aug. 10. The 3 1/2-hour assessment included an individual examination of trees throughout the park. Five were deemed hazardous and recommended for immediate removal.
The findings came after months of growing concerns about the health of the park's mature tree canopy.
In September 2025, the city's arborist raised concerns about root compaction caused by the park's heavy use, including vehicles and events. The Environmental Advisory Committee later identified Grove Park's tree health as one of its priorities.
A professional tree-care company, SavATree, also found that years of heavy foot traffic and vehicle activity had caused significant soil and root compaction, contributing to canopy decline and branch dieback. The company recommended permanently relocating the farmers' market after soil aeration work was completed.
A separate June assessment by the Delaware Forest Service described Grove Park as having a mature canopy made up primarily of red oaks, white oaks and loblolly pines. The report recommended continued monitoring, protecting the soil around the trees and reducing foot and vehicle traffic.
The latest assessment, however, raised more immediate concerns.
The farmers' market, which is held every Tuesday and has been operating in Grove Park for decades, was canceled the night before its Aug. 11 market.
Pat Coluzzi, who started the market 20 years ago, said she made the decision because of the potential danger to the thousands of people who visit each week.
"We haven't had trees fall down. There's been limbs that fell," Coluzzi said. "When they talked about the potential danger there, I thought, we can't have - there's a thousand people who go through the market every Tuesday. So I just couldn't do that."
Coluzzi said she did not hear the word "dangerous" used to describe the trees until the state assessment on Aug. 10.
The city is now preparing for a Level 2 Tree Risk Assessment, known as a TRAQ, to take a closer look at the remaining trees and determine their stability and health.
The results will be used to create a long-term plan for Grove Park that could include removing hazardous trees, maintaining healthy ones and planting new trees to strengthen the park's canopy.
For the farmers' market, the immediate concern is finding a temporary location.
The market will move to the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center parking lot beginning Tuesday. Parking fees on some streets will waived during the hours of operation.
Vendors told CoastTV they are grateful the market will continue but say the parking lot is not an ideal replacement for the park.
Lenore Brady, owner of Stag Run Farm, said the loss of the Aug. 11 market was particularly difficult during an already challenging year for farmers.
"It's been a very, very difficult year for farming, especially for a small, middle-of-the-road farmer," Brady said. "We have to be able to sell retail, and my retail is the farmers markets, the Lewes Farmers' Market, the Rehoboth Farmers' Market."
Another vendor, Old World Breads, said it prepared about 25% less product than usual for this Tuesday's market because of the location change and expects fewer customers.
The bakery's owner said the business has never experienced a cancellation like the one last week, when the market was called off the evening before.
