City leaders cut ribbon on another remodeled park in Youngstown with zipline
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown and fellow city leaders recently unveiled the new and improved equipment alongside kids in the community at MVSD Park in the city of Youngstown.
Upgrades for the park on Dunlap Avenue include renovated restrooms, off-street parking and a new zipline.
Clemate Franklin is the executive director of the city of Youngstown’s Parks and Recreation Department.
“I tried the grills we have out here and they work perfectly. We have new picnic tables under a lighted pavilion so at nighttime it’ll be very bright,” Franklin said. “We’ll also be adding cameras.”
Franklin expressed gratitude toward Mayor Brown and Councilman Mike Ray, as well as Strollo Architects.
“This was a large undertaking; some people thought we were crazy,” Ray said. “We had this ARPA funding, so we went out and asked ‘What does the community want?’ The biggest response was more parks and outdoor space, so this is a great way to bring that to fruition. We had parks in disrepair, and we needed to update them. Now we have a functional park here with a pavilion for birthday parties and events. I’m excited to see people using this and bringing their families.”
According to Mayor Brown, the MVSD Park improvement project is part of the administration’s ongoing $10 million investment to build and improve community spaces across Youngstown.
“Every park is different for me,” the mayor said. “When I grew up, parks were natural to us; that’s where we gathered, had programming and made most of our friends. As we talk about maintaining and keeping these parks, in good leadership, you’ll see planning, opportunities for growth and our parks department programs the parks so the kids are excited about it. I’m excited about it and the potential for the next generation coming here.”
