South High Fieldhouse

[jay]

The west side has several areas that have "gone back to nature" and are now wooded lots.

FYI
The Treez Please group is planting trees on the south side today, Saturday, December 1.

[Towntalk]

Quote me if I'm wrong, but didn't the city pass a law about mowing grass in the city?

Also, isn't unmowed grass and weeds a perfect breeding ground for varments?

I can see letting land go wild in Mill Creek Park, but not in our neighborhoods.

I'll bet you that the folks on the west side would screem bloody murder if any empty land in their neighborhoods was allowed to go wild with grass and weeds as high as an elephant's knee.

I know as a point of fact that the men in my neighborhood would get out their mowers and mow the grass in vacent lots.

As for the south and east sides that's a quite different matter.

[Rick Rowlands]

Biersdorfer once again off her rocker.    If she wants to "wildly rejoice in nature" she can do it in the millions of acres of undeveloped land in the countryside all around us. A city is a place for people, not unmowed and unkempt vacant land. 

[Towntalk]

The plan for the Park Department to get rid of some of its holdings has been in the news at least twice this past week or so.


Source: WKBN-TV 27

What parks in the city of Youngstown will look like in 10 or 20 years was discussed Tuesday during a public forum with the Parks and Recreation Commission.

Residents likely will see fewer city parks in the long-term because of budget cuts and increasing fuel and maintenance costs. That's why the Commission is asking for the community's help to come up with ways to preserve the parks for future generations.

Youngstown's park system is designed to support a population between 150,000 and 160,000 people with 45 properties spread around nearly 500 acres. That includes everything from playgrounds and swimming pools, to boulevard median strips on a number of roads, and even a small graveyard on the city's South Side.

But the latest census numbers show a steep drop in people to patronize the parks.

"With an 18 or 20 percent decline in population, we need to downsize our parks. I would rather have great parks, than all OK parks," said Anthony Spano, chairman of the Youngstown Parks and Recreation Commission.

"There may be some parks that are in some vacant areas and there may be some areas where we don't have any parks and we need to maybe think about putting some parks in those neighborhoods," said Youngstown Parks Director Robert Burke.

Right now, the Parks and Recreation Department has about 20 full-time employees and a budget of nearly $2 million a year. But with a looming budget deficit next year for the city, officials are trying to look for possible efficiencies and to do that they're looking to conduct a study on the park system.

The Youngstown Parks Comprehensive Master Plan Scope is a community-based blueprint for how parks in the City of Youngstown should look and be enjoyed in the future. Residents gave feedback during Tuesday's public meeting on everything from fracking to selling off the old South High Fieldhouse.

The Parks Director said the city had been spending about $100,000 a year maintaining the property and officials think that money might be better used elsewhere.

"We've given away property in the past, and other people have profited by it, rather than the city. There are young people that could utilize that," said the Rev. Monica Beasley-Martin, founder of the Defenders of Earth outreach.

Another topic that came up during the forum was drilling. The Mayor and members of the Parks and Recreation Commission said they have no plans to frack or drill under city park property.

Some residents want to see any downsized parks or green space be returned to its natural state.

"Into more wild areas, places where people can wildly rejoice in nature, and the city does not have to mow the grass, and that kind of thing," said Susie Beiersdorfer of Frack Free Mahoning Valley.

Spano said he would like the public to work with the city to make the parks great and relevant for future generations.

       

[jay]

I recently learned that the City Parks Department is negotiating the sale of the South High Fieldhouse to an unnamed individual.

Who is this individual and why wasn't the public notified that the South High Fieldhouse was up for sale?