SHARON Study recommends playground fix-ups

One of the targeted playgrounds already has been improved to the tune of $30,000.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- The city needs to focus on the upgrading and upkeep of its playgrounds, according to a city Parks and Recreation Study Committee's report presented to city council.
The document, prepared by Pashek Associates, a Pittsburgh-based consulting company getting paid $30,000 to help with the study, deals primarily with the status of four city-owned playgrounds.
That wasn't exactly where the study committee was initially heading, said Councilman Lou Rotunno, chairman.
"They [Pashek] seem to want to go after a grant to refurbish the playgrounds. That's not what I was looking at," Rotunno said, noting that the lack of basketball hoops and the lack of adequate playing fields for softball, soccer and baseball were the original committee concerns.
State funds: However, the committee will go along with the push for playground improvements first, he said, explaining that Pashek feels the city can get money to make those improvements and this may be the city's only shot at state recreational grant funds right now.
Once the city gets into the state grant system, it may be able to go after funds for playing field development, he said.
The draft document doesn't talk about the lack of basketball hoops but it does address the lack of adequate playing fields, pointing out that the committee looked at 11 sites but determined only one may be appropriate for a ball field.
That's some privately owned vacant land at Clark Street and North Water Avenue where a baseball field existed years ago. The city should look at buying it and developing a new ball field, the draft said.
The document also addressed some potential smaller playground areas the city might pursue, all of them privately owned.
Other sites: The city should try to negotiate use of the Salvation Army playground on Fisher Hill Street, vacant land at the Business Institute of Pennsylvania on Highland Road, vacant land behind the Shenango Inn off Westerman Avenue and perhaps buy a small lot at Logan and Irvine avenues for a minipark, the document said.
Further, the city should approach Penn State Shenango about public use of its tennis courts at Alexander Place and Franklin Street, the draft said.
The main focus, however, is the city-owned playgrounds on Jefferson Street, Bicentennial Park off Budd Street, North Sharon off Thornton Avenue and B Street.
The draft said all are in need of some extensive improvements, though the North Sharon playground has already been fixed up.
The city and the North Sharon Volunteer Fire Department recently spent $30,000 to upgrade that facility, leaving the other three to be the focus of the study.
The report said some of the equipment at the three is hazardous and should be removed or replaced and that the overall maintenance is inadequate, a problem it attributes to funding.
The Sharon Recreation Board handles summer playground programs and maintenance but gets only $75,000 from the city and Sharon City School District for those purposes.
That amount needs to be increased, the city should do a risk management assessment of its playgrounds to pinpoint and deal with hazards and should change the seasonal position of recreation director to a year-round, part-time post of parks and recreation director to better oversee the properties, the study said.
The city and school district might also consider contracting with the F.H. Buhl Club to run the summer recreation program, something the Buhl Club has expressed an interest in doing, the study said.
The document also briefly addresses the need for bike-hike trails through the city.
Oct. 31 is the filing deadline for the latest round of state recreational grants and the city wants to be ready to file an application to help fund improvements, Rotunno said.