Girard student collaborates with mayor on Liberty Park senior project

By Sarah Lehr | October 23, 2016 at 12:07a.m.

GIRARD

Mara Avery, a Girard High School senior, says her 2-year old brother was almost hit by a car barreling around a blind corner at Liberty Memorial Park.

“My family – we walk everywhere,” Avery said. “We come here to the park all the time.”

That close call influenced Avery’s senior project. Avery, 18, is working with Girard city officials to build a footpath through woods at the park.

The path, which is set for completion before winter, will allow people to avoid walking on the road at that blind corner. The walkway connects a parking lot near the football field to the soccer and baseball fields. Workers will cut down dead trees to make way for the path. No healthy trees will be felled.

Avery, who plans to pursue a degree in special education at Youngstown State University after graduating high school, approached Girard Mayor James Melfi earlier this year about the proposal. City officials had discussed a similar project previously, but had not taken action.

“Ironically, it’s something the city never got around to doing, and she actually [envisioned] it herself,” Melfi said. “She actually saw the need for it on her own, and fast-forward to now.”

Melfi said projects such as the footpath, which is estimated to cost less than $5,000, relate to the city’s efforts to draw more patrons to Liberty Memorial Park. Recently, the city collaborated with the Girard Youth Soccer League to develop soccer fields at the park for about $125,000.

“Now, when you develop activities in a park that didn’t have those activities before, you need infrastructure in place,” Melfi said. “Obviously, parking is the main problem.”

The path, which will likely be composed of mulch and aggregate, will not be handicap-accessible. For soccer and baseball games, the city will encourage younger, more able-bodied patrons to park at the farther lot and use the footpath, Melfi said.

After meeting with the mayor, Avery’s next step was a presentation before city council.

“I was extremely nervous because I was thinking, ‘What if it doesn’t get approved?’” she said of the experience. “It opened my eyes to government. It made me see that maybe I should start paying more attention.”