Parks might not be high on the budget totem pole in the City of Warren but one park project will continue as scheduled.
Upcoming work slated for Beaty Park, including rehabilitating tennis courts and the basketball court, was spared as City Council approved $53,000 to be set aside to complete the work.
The total project cost is $153,826. Approximately half of that amount. $77,000, has been awarded in grant funding through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. An additional $20,000 has been donated by a local foundation, Department of Public Works Director Mike Holtz said during Monday night's budget session.
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Times Observer photo by Jacob Perryman
Repairs are coming
Warren City Council approved $53,000 to complete renovations at Beaty Park, which will include an overhaul to the park’s tennis courts, pictured. Construction should start in 2013.
"The biggest (capital improvement project) that looking for the immediate for 2013 is the Beaty project," Holtz added, explaining that the city will receive $150,000 in work for $53,000 due to the grant and donation. "Worst comes to worst, that is a project that needs to get done."
"The park in my view is sorely needed," Vice-president Maurice Cashman said. "The tennis courts are in terrible, terrible shape...starting to be a liability."
Holtz explained that the significance of the project is "not that it is sorely needed" but that the city has the grant and doesn't "want to give the money back...$77,000 back because we couldn't fund $53,000."
City Manager Nancy Freenock said that there have been discussions about charging for the use of the tennis courts at Beaty Park. "The Betts courts get a fair amount of activity," Cashman noted.
A motion to approve $53,000 for the project to be included in the 2013 budget was passed by a 5-2 vote. Mayor Mark Phillips and Councilman Sam Harvey voted in opposition.
The deadline for completion of the project is December 31, 2015 and construction is slated to start in the summer of 2013.
The project will feature new basketball hoops and backboards, new top coat and blacktop on the basketball court and three tennis courts, a concrete pad for bleachers, 130 linear feet of limestone pathway connecting the existing handicapped accessible path to the basketball and tennis facilities, as well as upgrades to fencing and lighting.
Rehabilitation of the Beaty Park area began in 2008 with new restrooms and storage facility, handicapped parking, Americans with Disabilities Act-approved playground equipment, and the development of accessible pathways connecting the various park features. The second phase of the Beaty Improvement Project included the addition of the skate park last year.
The Parks and Recreation Commission identified the project as a high priority in 2010.