Oakwood Park a work in progress

Committee says more improvements coming

The revitalization of South Lorain’s Oakwood Park is a work in progress, said members of the committee dedicated to the future of the 68-acre green space.

Mayor Chase Ritenauer’s Oakwood Park Committee meets twice a month and continues planning city projects and recruiting volunteers to rejuvenate the space.

Some of the projects are visible, others less so, but all are improving the looks and infrastructure of the park, said committee members Mitch Fallis, Joyce Ferlic-Arredondo and Bob Renney. Other committee members are Rey Carrion and Bob Lesiecki.

Fallis, who is an at-large city councilman, said he is proud of the committee, city workers, volunteers and residents who care about Oakwood Park.

The goal is to update the park, beautify it and then add to it, he said.

“It’s gotten off to a slow start,” said Ferlic-Arredondo, who also is a member of the city Design Review Board.

Ferlic-Arredondo described the work as “incremental” as

Some of the projects are visible, others less so, but all are improving the looks and infrastructure of the park, said committee members Mitch Fallis, Joyce Ferlic-Arredondo and Bob Renney.

money becomes available.

Renney said some of the improvement projects are in different stages of development.

But the committee members said generally, they are pleased with the work so far and more things will happen by the end of fall.

The city of Lorain has Community Development Block Grant money dedicated to the park, they said.

Trees

Lorain officials crafted a redevelopment plan for Oakwood Park, but a furor erupted in fall 2016 when residents protested city workers cutting down trees there.

This year, the city has planted new trees that will grow to form a treeline along East 31st Street.

More new trees are spread throughout the park and are in a clump near the northwest corner of the park, for a total of about 56 new trees, Renney said.

The varieties are American basswood, bloodgood Japanese maple, swamp oak, pin oak, red oak, serviceberry and redbud trees, he said.

The committee hopes to

add more, Renney said.

Other projects

Among the other projects: • The city has installed a new waterline through Oakwood Park.

“That was a significant infrastructure improvement,” Fallis said. “People say, what are you doing at Oakwood Park? Well, we couldn’t do much until we had the waterline in.”

• The Lorain Board of Control, made up of Ritenauer and Safety-Service Director Dan Given, has approved a contract for a new roof, gutters and downspouts on the concession stand at the park.

The job will cost $15,876 for Homestead Exterior Solutions to complete, according to city records.

Meanwhile, city crews have repaired the bathrooms inside the building.

• The city has supplied wood to repair 13 benches in the park.

• The committee hopes to resurface the concrete basketball court this year. They also want to resurface the roads inside the park and design a network of concrete walkways to improve handicap access around Oakwood Park.

• Volunteers have painted bleachers, ball field dugouts and picnic tables.

The goal is to create a

uniform, matching color scheme with red seats and black structures, Fallis said.

The shade is known as “chipotle red,” he added.

• The city likely will use a contractor to paint fences around ball diamonds 1, 2, 3 and 4 by the end of fall.

City officials are reviewing bids on that project, Fallis said.

• Volunteers generally have cleaned and spruced up the park.

Fallis credited Eddie Mendez of Wash Away Power Washing of Lorain for his work cleaning off the concrete planters and pads for benches at the park.

Renney noted Fallis’ wife, Vivian, did a “phenomenal job” painting the Oakwood Park sign at East 31st and Grove Avenue.

Challenges

Oakwood Park specifically, and all Lorain parks generally, are hampered because city officials and residents desire nice green spaces.

But the city lacks money to tackle everything that needs done, committee members said.

The city’s Public Property Department is helpful, but understaffed for park work, Ferlic-Arredondo said. Renney agreed. “The biggest hurdle still lies in the lack of funding

of the manpower of that department, especially where parks are concerned,” he said.

Generally, cities can maintain a “barebones but adequate” parks and recreation department with about 4 percent to 5 percent of the general fund spending, said Renney, a former parks and recreation director for Lorain.

The city has a number of independent groups that plan recreational activities around Lorain, he said.

There always will be passive recreation with people enjoying nature and picnicking in city parks, Renney said.

Once Oakwood Park is vibrant again, recreational programming would enhance it, he said.

Lorain could use citysponsored programming in its parks.

“The absence of that is looming large right now,” Renney said.

Sometimes, nature works against the committee and city staff.

At Field No. 4, city crews replaced some of the chain link fence that forms the right field boundary of the ball diamond.

This summer, a tree branch fell on it, destroying the new section.

It will need to be replaced again, Fallis said.