Collingswood has never had a town square. A ‘pocket park’ could soon fill the void.

A former gas station parking lot that has been Collingswood’s unofficial town square for years could soon become a park.

New lighting, landscaping, and artwork (including a mural), along with a stage, bike racks, cafe tables, benches, and a butterfly garden would make an inviting “pocket park” out of the forlorn 1,500-square-foot lot at Haddon and Woodlawn Avenues.

The borough commission voted last Monday to solicit bids for the construction, which will cost $225,000 and be paid for with community development funds. Underground tanks and other remnants of the gas station were removed previously.

A separate but complementary proposal would transform the vacant gas station building into the new home of Sara’s Produce, a locally owned Haddon Avenue business eager to expand. The facade of the new Sara’s would face the park.

“We’re not in Central Park here, but we are in the central business district,” said Rob Lewandowski, a borough commissioner who visited the park site Thursday.

“It’s difficult for such a small space to be everything for everybody,” he said. “But we hope the park will become an important asset for businesses and the community. We want people to feel it belongs to them.”

Like many older Philly suburbs in South Jersey and Pennsylvania, Collingswood has walkable streets, good transit, and desirable housing. Haddon Avenue, once moribund, has emerged as a regional dining and shopping hub.

But unlike many similar communities, the borough doesn’t have a town square, park, or other focal point in its business district.

Collingswood purchased the former gas station property for $450,000 in 2009, subdivided it, and last May sold the building for $225,000 to a limited liability corporation established by P&A Associates, a development firm in Philadelphia.

Other developers had expressed interest in the borough’s portion of the property as the parking lot evolved into a sort of minimalist town square, hosting holiday events, memorial gatherings, pop-up vendors, movie nights, and demonstrations.

“While we were working through development proposal for the parking lot, and not loving any of them, we already were using the space,” Mayor Jim Maley said. “So we began to think, it works so well as a park.”

Said Lindsey Ferguson, Collingswood’s director of business and community development: “It became ‘the spot.’ It really wants to be a park.”

The “pocket park” proposal was developed in part by volunteers from the borough’s Green Team as well as residents responding to a recent assessment of recreation facilities.

“One of the things that came up again and again was the need for a park,” Ferguson said.

In a densely developed business district like Collingswood’s, “a space like this may never present itself again,” said borough administrator Cassandra Duffey.

Only a handful of empty commercial spaces are vacant on Haddon Avenue, the town’s main street. The landmark DiBartolo’s Bakery, which closed last year after a half-century of operation, remains vacant, but Paloma has recently opened in the former Tortilla Press space. Still, foot traffic on Haddon can be sparse on weekdays, and the borough hopes the park will draw more pedestrians to the western end of the business district.

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“The park will be a place for people to hang out a little bit longer downtown after dinner, or to have coffee, relax, and then continue shopping,” said Sandi Kelly, who heads Collingswood’s Green Team and has been heavily involved in the visioning process for the space. She also welcomes the prospect of a larger, more visible Sara’s Produce.

“It’s a big step for us,” said Lucio Ramos, with his wife, Lazara (Sara), opened their business in a tiny downtown Collingswood storefront in 2008. Their son, Lucio Jr., is the manager and supervisor.

Sara’s also is a major presence at farmers markets in Collingswood, Haddonfield, and Haddon Heights. A larger store will enable them to stock more organic and local produce, said Lucio Sr.

“Collingswood has been very friendly to us, and we want to thank them and all our customers,” Lucio Sr. said.

The family said they hope to be in the new space by the fall. They will rent but ultimately could purchase the property.

The renovation plans call for two of the former garage doors to be opened so the proprietors “can better show their produce and flowers in the spring and summer,” said Alan Casnoff, a partner in P&A Associates.

Although his company is best known for building the Murano and St. James residential high-rises in Center City, “we love Collingswood,” he said.

“We had been looking there for a while, and this seemed like a great opportunity to make a difference for some really nice people.”

Angelo Alberto, director of urban design and planning at the Spiezle Architectural Group, the firm that created the conceptual designs for the park, said he also has been “watching the Collingswood renaissance” with great interest.

The project “is in the heart of a town with an active citizenry,” he said, adding “we received a lot of input, lots of bullet points, and from there we tried to create a space that’s attractive and inviting and has flexibility.”

In 2002, when Chris Rocco and Mike Snyder opened their Grooveground Coffeebar, “we were kind of an island across the street from Wawa,” Rocco said. “We were on the edge.”

But Grooveground, which also sells recorded music and clothing, became a go-to on the Haddon Avenue strip. And in the last 22 years, the Lumberyard residential and retail complex, as well as many additional businesses, including restaurants, a bookstore, and at least one other coffee shop, have opened.

The borough also has allowed Grooveground to set up outdoor tables along the edge of what soon will become the park. Grooveground plans to add outdoor seating in the rear of the building, said Rocco.

“People are going to be very happy with the park,” he said. “And the parking lot is becoming what it wanted to be.”