Public may view park options next month
LUZERNE TWP. – Future options for Patsy Hillman Park will be presented to the public next month as part of the development of a master plan for the park. Ron Schipani and Tom Swisher of the Monroeville office of Pennoni Associates Inc. presented the three site options to the park board Wednesday. All of the plans call for expanding the walking and biking trails in the park, as well as some expansion of the sports fields and parking. Swisher said surveys showed that the most popular uses of the park are walking, playgrounds, picnics, Fourth of July activities and soccer. Among the items most requested for the future: restrooms, security, water, increased concession stand hours and better seating at the soccer field.
“People would like to see more investment by the communities that own the park,” Swisher said. “Its best feature is the lake area. Think of this as the core and we’ll work around the core.”
Swisher said site development is somewhat limited by the terrain, with three quarters of the park too steep for construction.
Swisher said the first site plan calls for cutting off vehicular traffic between the Hiller and Telegraph Road sections of the park, as well as closing the Frick Street entrance. Swisher said changing the traffic pattern could help reduce vandalism at the park.
“People don’t like to do bad things in dead end areas,” Swisher said.
The second option would create a 175-acre golf course at the park as well as development of a baseball field and amphitheater.
The third option was presented with an 86-acre site for all-terrain vehicles, with a buffer zone between it and the rest of the park, but the board voted to eliminate the ATV park from the plan because of the on-going problems with illegal ATV operation causing damage in the park. In addition, the dust from the ATV area would blow across the developed area of the park, Swisher said.
The third option also enlarges the space for the proposed environmental education program, puts an amphitheatre on Flagstaff Hill, includes a BMX track for bicycles and develops an informal baseball field. It also adds trees and other vegetation to some of the steep areas currently mowed by park staff members.
The three plans will be presented to the public May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Hiller Fire Hall Social Hall.
In other matters, Luzerne Township Supervisor Greg Downer reported that inmates from SCI-Fayette painted and picked up trash at the park, eliminating graffiti on several buildings.
The board voted to offer a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for damages done at the park last month. Security cameras captured some images, but so far no one has been positively identified.
Park board member Bob Bevard reported that the Internal Revenue Service has approved the board’s application to be recognized as a nonprofit organization. The designation now opens the door for the park to seek funding from private foundations and other sources that may not be available to Luzerne Township and Brownsville Borough, which own the park.
The board voted to extend the water line and to repair the electrical line to the Luzerne Pavilion.
“We have money in the savings we can use. What good is it to come up here if you don’t have power and you don’t have water?” said Frank Ricco, chairman of the park board.
Ricco said that with water and electricity, rental should increase at the Luzerne Pavilion.