NORTH SIDE Some make case to save Evans Field

Work on the project will begin in the spring.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A North Side recreational field will be redeveloped, but a small group of North Side residents is hoping to save the field.
Residents interested in saving the field met Friday evening with city, park and Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority officials. YMHA recently received a nearly $20 million Hope VI federal grant to revitalize the Westlake Terrace Homes and Evans Field area.
The city park board has agreed to give YMHA Evans Field on the North Side. YMHA will build subsidized and market-rate housing for low- and moderate-income families on the field with the grant money. Other housing will be built south of the park.
In exchange for Evans Field, YMHA will demolish the remaining Westlake apartments along Martin Luther King Boulevard. A small golf course, football field, baseball field, four tennis courts and three basketball courts will be built there, according to plans that also include a recreational center where life skills will be taught.
The city parks department will operate the recreational areas.
Call field a landmark
For Cynthia Williams and Lori White, organizers of the effort to save Evans Field, the YMHA-park department plans fall apart where Evans Field ceases to exist. They say the project should be completed leaving the field intact.
"We are upset about the closing of Evans Field because we feel that this is a landmark," White said. "We cannot do this by ourselves; we need the support of the community backing us, and that is what we are trying to do -- get the support of the community."
Besides calling the field a landmark, those in attendance at Friday's meeting said the project will displace North Side children who use Evans Field as a practice area. White said a rally at Evans Field is being planned for early October and petitions to save the field are being circulated.
Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, whose ward includes the project area, said many public meetings have been held on the issue over the last few years with low attendance and not much public outcry. He said the project plans for the area are far better than what is there now.
Ten residents attended Friday's session with the officials.
Officials' views
Joseph McRae, parks department director, said Evans Field has a basketball court, open fields, bleachers and a pavilion that has been vandalized.
Eugenia Atkinson, YMHA executive director, said it is important to understand the investment being made in the Westlake area. She said private business will not likely put that amount of money into the area.
"In redeveloping the area we have come up with a plan that we feel will benefit the families in the entire community," she said. "I don't think any private entity will invest those millions in the North Side of Youngstown."
Work will begin in the spring. Eugenia Atkinson said the work must be completed within five years.
By the end of the meeting, some in attendance had a change of heart on the issue.
Clarice Dowdy said that change is difficult for some people but that she is in favor of the project now after being given a clearer picture. Others said they like the project but still want the historical field left untouched. Some just want the project completed faster than five years.
jgoodwin@vindy.com