Warren seeks funds for water park
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The city will apply soon for $87,312 in Ohio Department of Natural Resources grant money available to Trumbull County to build a 1,200-square-foot “splash pad” water park near Packard Music Hall.
If the state picks Warren’s project over several others being proposed in the county, the city would use other grant funds to pay the remaining 25 percent of the $110,000 project, said Leann O’Brien, grants coordinator for the city’s Community Development Department.
The splash pad would be a flat concrete slab with water jets flush with the concrete. The jets are activated by pressing on a lever, and a pump to run the jets would be turned on only at certain times of the day, certain months of the year.
The splash pad would be constructed just east of the 1-year-old skate park on the former Turner Middle School site.
Such parks have become popular across the country and provide a way for people to enjoy water recreation, especially children, said Mayor Michael O’Brien.
But three people living near the proposed water park told city council’s Economic Development Committee Tuesday they won’t be eager for another recreational attraction to be added until problems with the skate park are resolved.
“Since the skate park has been there, it’s been a living hell,” said a woman who asked not to be identified but lives directly across Mahoning Avenue from the skate park.
“There is no supervision, and it’s loud,” she said, adding that she and her husband have had to close their front windows and can no longer enjoy their side porch because of the hollow “bang, bang” associated with the park.
Equally frustrating is that the city promised last year that a city employee living nearby would keep the park open only from sunrise to dusk in the summer, spring and fall, but it frequently stays open all hours of the day and has been open parts of the winter, the woman said.
The woman and her husband called Councilwoman Helen Rucker to complain at 4 a.m. one time because the skateboarders still were making noise late into the night, Rucker said.
Mayor O’Brien and Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin said that is an issue that they plan to correct immediately by talking to the employee.
Councilman Al Novak said he believes the culture of skateboarders is that “There is a big thrill when you utilize [a skate park] at night.”
A lot of skateboarders are adults, he said, and they probably can jump the fence around the park.
Police Chief Tim Bowers responded that if neighbors report that anyone has jumped the fence to get into the park, his officers will consider that a fairly high priority problem because that would qualify as trespassing, a misdemeanor criminal offense.
The department filed trespassing charges 78 times in 2010, the chief noted.
Novak said it’s “unbelievable” how much noise comes from the skate park. “You can see how it can be really aggravating,” Rucker agreed.