The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Splash pad leads changes to Lorain parks
Harbor House, Heroes Walk take shape
Among Lorain parks, the old Central Park Pool is out. What’s in? A splash pad, painted skate ramps, a renovated community center and a sprinkler to water a memorial garden with a lake view.
Lorain’s Public Property Department and a corps of volunteers have plans for new amenities at several spots this year, said city Public Property Manager Lori Garcia.
She and Deputy Safety-Service Director Derek Feuerstein thanked the city residents for their efforts to help get projects going.
Making a splash
Central Park, 2800 Oakdale Ave., has the splashiest new feature in Lorain: the city’s first splash pad.
The splash pad is covered by a blue padded surface to prevent slips and cushion anyone who falls. It is surrounded by a fresh concrete base.
“It’s actually all built now,” Garcia said. “The safe surface is on it. Right now we’re tweaking all the different nozzles and sprays.”
The splash pad still needs benches, grading and landscaping around it. A tentative ribbon-soaking is scheduled for June 3, but that could change to June 10 depending on weather.
The splash pad will be activated likely 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the summer. It will have 18 holes, each with three spray nozzles grouped with four aquatic spray features on the pad. There also will be a “puddle” zone with short sprays for toddlers.
The city had a contract to pay for the pad with $45,238 from Lorain’s Community Development Block Grant money.
The splash pad replaces the old Central Park Pool.
“Pools are very expensive,” Feuerstein said. “They’re a huge liability concern.”
The splash pad eliminates the risk of drowning and does not require lifeguards or water treatment equipment, he said.
“And the kids nowadays, they love splash pads,” he added.
In the city administration, Feuerstein credited Leon Mason, former director of building, housing and planning, for the effort to use Lorain’s Community Development Block Grant money for visible community improvement projects.
The pool had an estimated 25-year lifespan, Garcia said, and was there more than 40 years.
“So we definitely got our money’s worth out of the pools,” she said.
City crews have filled in the pool. Its aluminum sides were sold for scrap, netting $6.082.70 for the city’s park fund.
Pawlak Park
In 2016, Jeffery Pye of Lorain sketched out his tribute to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, last year’s NBA champions.
His “canvas” was one of four sides of the concrete skateboard ramps at Pawlak Park at Washington Avenue and West 14th Street.
“They got me the paints in September and I said, we’ll wait till next year, which is now,” said Pye. When not drawing or painting, Pye works as a mental health assistant for Southview Middle School and the Nord Center.
This year the sketch will be filled in with a dark blue background, orange basketball and white and gold letters. Pye, 59, hopes to add a “2017 NBA champions” to the décor.
Just being there is an attention-getter, with neighborhood children approaching and asking to help, Pye said. He tells them to ask their parents for permission before they can pick up a paint brush.
“They take ownership of this and then they won’t graffiti over this and they’ll watch out so one does,” Pye said.
Home Depot and the Lorain Arts Council donated the paints.
Pye has visions of flowers and a seascape on one of the ramps and a message — “Community, art, life matters” — on another.
Pye painted the red, white and blue “Lorain Pride” sign on one of the skate ramps. That sign will get a touch-up this year. That mural is large enough for people to read from the street as they drive by, he said.
“They know it’s a flag and pride – oh, it’s Lorain pride,” he said. “It kind of hits them just like that.”
Harbor House
Volunteers continue the interior remodeling of Harbor House at Century Park. Eventually it will reopen as a community gathering space that residents can rent for parties and receptions.
The structure is a project of the Eastside Block Watch.
Group coordinators J.R. and Nancy Lee are frequent attendees at Lorain City Council meetings and the public spokespeople for the block watch, but they credited the help of numerous volunteers helping Harbor House. Donors also include Sherwin Williams, Terminal Ready-Mix and Lucas Plumbing & Heating Inc.
“It’s getting there, it’s coming along,” J.R. Lee said.
The inside has been painted light blue. The windows on the street side of the building have new fishnet “curtains,” decorated with lures.
There is a lighted lighthouse sign and reupholstered benches.
The city paid for new drop ceiling tiles installed by J.R. Lee and volunteer Dave Kramer, who kept and painted the original ceiling frame.
They also used repurposed wood to build decorative display shelves with nautical memorabilia.
“We’re trying to save money because we know the city doesn’t have a lot of money,” J.R. Lee said. “We’re trying to reuse what we can reuse.”
There are at least two major elements left indoors and one outside.
The floor of Harbor House is solid but needs refinishing.
Currently, the windows on the north side of the building are covered. Once removed, Harbor House will have a lake view, along with the lake access on the Century Park beach.
The exterior eventually will need a fresh coat of paint.
Some people may believe there is a disconnect between City Hall and the people of Lorain. But the city has supported Eastside Block Watch the whole way for Harbor House, J.R. Lee said.
“Everybody’s got to work together,” he said.
“I hope this is going to be an inspiration for other parts of the city, like Oakwood Park,” J.R. Lee said, referring to the major park of South Lorain. There has been much public debate in recent months over how the city should rejuvenate that space.
“If you work with the city, the city’s going to help you,” J.R. Lee said.
Settlers’ Watch
With volunteer effort, Settlers’ Watch has emerged from an empty lot at Oberlin Avenue and Second Street.
There are three spaces that combine to make the area one of the hidden gems of Lorain, said two local historians who guide the maintenance of the park.
Settlers’ Watch is the park with flowers and sculptures made of carved tree stumps. The Admiral Ernest J. King tribute site is nearby at Hamilton Avenue and First Street.
They are joined by the Eric Barnes Heroes Walk, a 150-foot trail with tributes to Lorain’s native sons who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is named for Airman First Class Eric Barnes and honors Marine
Corps Lance Cpl. David R. Hall; Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joseph Ryan Giese; Army Sgt. Bruce Horner; and Army Sgt. Louis Torres.
Lorain Rotary members come out to help on Lorain Pride Day.
“They bring the muscle and the rakes,” said Loraine Ritchey of the Charleston Village Society. “We really couldn’t do Lorain Pride without them.”
Other volunteers quietly maintain the site through the summer and fall. Work includes pruning, watering and trimming.
“It’s generally just like a garden,” Ritchey said. There are 56 rose bushes and varieties of plants not found in other city parks, she added, crediting the work of one “Constant Gardener” who raises plants for the park.
In May, Lorain City Council accepted donation of an in-ground sprinkler system, a $3,500 gift from Irrigation Sales & Service LLC of North Ridgeville.
The park sits across from the Lorain Utilities Department, 1106 W. First St., and down the street from KCream Korner, 1207 W. Erie Ave., an ice cream stand that is wildly popular in the summer. As a result, there is a surprising amount of traffic that goes by Settlers Watch, said Ritchey and Renee Dore, a local historian and Charleston Village Society member.
Equally surprising is the tranquility people find among the flowers, trees as they gaze out over the Port of Lorain. Family members of the fallen warriors occasionally visit.
“There’s just a sense of peace on that corner,” Ritchey said. “I can’t explain it any other way.”
City Hall has backed the project from the start. Ritchey thanked Corey Timko, the former utilities director for Lorain, and Safety-Service Director Dan Given, who lent his support while he was an atlarge city councilman.
Charleston Village Society is a nonprofit organization. Donations for the Eric Barnes Heroes Walk can be sent to 1127, W. Fourth St., Lorain OH 44052.
Usable spaces
Although Lorain does not have a lot of money to invest in its parks, the facilities remain well used.
The pavilions of Central Park and Lakeview Park South generally are rented every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day. A baseball field at Central Park and two ball diamonds at Oakwood Park will be used all summer, Garcia said.
The city reserves only the parks that have pavilions and restrooms; there is a charge for the pavilion and a deposit required for the restroom key. The sites are popular for birthday parties, family reunions and at least a few graduation parties each year, Garcia said.
Anyone who wants to learn more about Lorain parks can call the Public Property Department at 440-244-4294.