EAST PALESTINE Residents tell board to scrap rec center

Concerns included the project cost, pedestrian safety, flooding and drainage.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
EAST PALESTINE -- A majority of people who attended a public forum here want the city's high school football field left where it is, and they don't see a need for a community recreation building.
"It looks like we need to revisit this," said school board president Karen Gorby. "Up to this point, we thought we were on the track that everyone wanted."
The school board had a public forum Wednesday evening where officials from E.G. & amp;G. Inc., a landscape architectural firm from Akron, displayed plans for a proposed sports complex and recreation center at a cost of more than $9 million.
In plans for complex
The board has bought 48 acres behind the high school, which would be the sports complex site. Besides a new football stadium, the complex would include baseball, softball and soccer fields, and tennis courts.
An indoor recreation center then would be built on the site of the current football field and track.
Superintendent Jeff Richardson said the project could be accomplished without increasing residents' taxes, but most of those who attended weren't swayed.
Residents expressed concerns about pedestrian safety of schoolchildren who would have to cross Grant Street to get to the recreation center, which would serve as an auxiliary gym.
They also worried about the safety of adults walking to attend sports events.
Residents also expressed concerns about draining and flooding, traffic congestion, parking and the project's overall size and scope.
"Why are we doing this? What is the need?" resident Tom Wright asked. "I can't see any need for it."
Where idea came from
Board member Nancy Clark said a steering committee of school officials and district residents came up with the idea while looking into ways to upgrade the district's sports facilities. She said there's a need for a soccer field to save wear and tear on the football field.
Building a stadium with seating for 2,000 also would allow the school to host state football playoff games, she added.
Board members added that the district needs to upgrade its facilities to keep pace with other surrounding districts that are building new stadiums and tracks.
"These are the dreams of the facility committee," Clark said.
Many of the 25 or so people who attended the meeting thanked the board for looking ahead, but felt the district cannot afford the project's cost.
They also didn't like that the recreation building, being touted by developers as a community center, would not actually be available to the community during daytime hours when school is in session.
Ron Novak, who said he lives near the proposed site, asked whether the community center is a "carrot" intended to entice residents into going along with the rest of the project. Board members said that's not the case.
Resident Kevin Semon drew a smattering of applause when he suggested that the board should focus its money on academics, not athletics or a community building.
Board members said if the community-center plans are scrapped, there should be room to upgrade the football stadium and track where they are, which would significantly reduce the project cost.
Richardson said the board and E.G. & amp;G. will develop a plan based on that scenario and report back to the public.
bjackson@vindy.com