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North Belle Vernon putting community in Community Bank Park

By Christopher Buckley cbuckley@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read
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Christopher Buckley|Herald-Standard

St. Sebastian School student Aiden Olup kicks the ball during a game of kickball at Community Bank Park in North Belle Vernon.

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Christopher Buckley|Herald-Standard

Ella Machusko pitches during a kickball game at Community Bank Park in North Belle Vernon.

On a warm spring day, shortly before the end of the school year, students at St. Sebastian School in North Belle Vernon enthusiastically enjoy a game of kickball outdoors at Community Bank Park.

The school, located along Broad Avenue in North Belle Vernon, has little green space outside for the kids to enjoy the physical education class.

“We come down here whenever the weather cooperates,” said Don Ryan, physical education teacher at St. Sebastian School. “They’ve been very accommodating. They said we can use the park anytime.”

Ryan said the park is a beautiful and safe environment that offers so much for the school and the community.

“We use it a lot,” Ryan said. “We can play so many games here.”

The park was reopened in August 2016 after a major renovation which included addition of soccer and dek hockey facilities, a radio-control car track and tables with chess/checkers boards on them.

The site was renamed Community Bank Park for its naming sponsor. North Belle Vernon officials are putting the name community in the Community Bank Park, offering it for all to use.

St. Sebastian holds an annual walk-a-thon fundraiser to benefit school. It was held May 4 this year at the park.

“It has been wonderful,” said Nina Zetty, principal at St. Sebastian School.

“R.J. (Sokol) and the rest of the council reached out to the school and offered its use to the school.”

Zetty said in addition to physical education classes the school uses the park for recess during clement weather. They participate in community activities such as the scarecrow competition and singing carols at the community Light Up Night.

“Any activity we can be a part of that keeps us a part of the community, we do,” Zetty said. “And council is so open to us utilizing the park as well. For us, it’s a godsend, and I think it’s a huge benefit to the community to have it here.”

The Belle Vernon Area School District also utilizes the park for a number of activities.

The high school boys and girls soccer teams do 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 drills there. And the middle school boys soccer team held its end of the year party at the park.

Dr. John Wilkinson, superintendent of the Belle Vernon Area School District, said Life Skills students visit the park once a month on a field trip. He said Sokol treats the students to an ice cream cone.

The park is ADA compliant and totally fenced in.

“The district does use the facilities and the turf for different activities,” Wilkinson said. “It’s nice to have something in North Belle Vernon. It’s a hub in a community within the district.”

Wilkinson said the district’s middle and high school soccer teams use the park for practice. The park has a soccer field, which is 40 yards in length.

Likewise, the Belle Vernon Area Youth Soccer uses it weekdays during their spring and fall seasons.

Sokol said requests for use of the park are handled through the North Belle Vernon Recreation Commission, which reviews each and gives its recommendation to council.

“Our park was built with the concept that it would be there for the whole Valley to use,” Sokol said. “It’s serving its purpose of being an outdoor recreational facility that the entire Valley uses and enjoys, and that makes us happy.”

It also is attracting would be new home buyers to the community, Sokol said.

“I received a call (recently) from a woman whose family was looking to buy a house, and that was one of the reasons they want to move here,” Sokol said.

Wilkinson said schools and community facilities are the top drawing cards for home buyers, an opportunity to grow the tax base too.

“I think any time they have a community area where kids of all ages can come and play and parents can get together and talk, that’s a benefit,” Wilkinson said.

“And having that here just adds a another dimension why you might want to move into the community.”

Gina Lynn, executive director of the Greater Rostraver Chamber of Commerce, concurred.

“Parks in general — that green space which makes people feel safe — is a draw, especially a young family looking for a home,” Lynn said.

“It’s definitely a plus for a community as an attraction.”

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