NEW CASTLE Group will build Friendship Park

Plans for a park on Grant Street will be changed to accommodate firetrucks.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A neglected corner will soon be a monument to international relations.
New Visions for New Castle, a nonprofit beautification group, asked city council Tuesday for permission to work on a spot at South Mercer and Grove streets.
The area will become Friendship Park in honor of the city's relationship with Shinshiro, Japan, New Castle's sister city, said Richard Mauk of New Visions.
City officials are expected to approve an agreement Thursday permitting New Visions to do the work.
Mauk said an old fire bell and plaque on the property will be removed and given to city firefighters.
Grant from state: A state grant will pay for the work, which will include new sidewalks, a plaque, benches, landscaping, repairs to a wall and the replanting of four cherry trees given to the city by Shinshiro officials, he said.
"This corner is pretty ugly right now. We estimate 600 to 2,000 people pass it each month," Mauk said.
The group expects to start work sometime next month and have it done by December.
Officials, meanwhile, are looking at changes to another proposed park-promenade area.
Council is considering closing a portion of Grant Street, from North Mercer Street to Highland Avenue, for the Human Services Center, which is converting all of the buildings on that block to offices and housing for people who use their services.
HSC intended to make the street area a promenade/park with a fire lane being constructed below it. The area beyond the promenade will become a city parking lot.
Aerial trucks: However, Fire Chief James Donston said aerial firetrucks would not be able reach the three story buildings on that section of Grant Street if the fire lane is more than 30 feet from the structures.
Roger Smith of the Human Services Center said they have revised plans that will allow firetrucks and other emergency vehicles to drive onto the promenade area.
Those plans will be given to the city before council agrees to close that section of Grant Street to regular traffic.