Leaders of the Mahoning County Land Bank, City of Youngstown and two community organizations today celebrated the establishment of two new “flexible parks” at South Side sites once marked by abandoned buildings, litter and overgrown grass.
A celebration this morning at the recently completed Peace Park, at the intersection of Parkwood Avenue and Thorn Street, and a groundbreaking at the Erie-Judson Garden, where Erie and Judson streets meet, reflect an excellent strategy for revitalizing abandoned properties, said Dan Yemma, country treasurer and chairman of the Land Bank.
“These flexible parks have taken the place of longstanding eyesores and we expect them to change the character of these neighborhoods,” Yemma said. “They’re showpieces for what can happen when the Land Bank’s ability to acquire abandoned parcels is coordinated with the efforts of other community-minded partners.”
One of those partners, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, plans to organize pop-up parks, block parties and other community-driven events starting next spring.
Erie-Judson Garden
“Attractive, usable, well-maintained greenspace is severely lacking in the neighborhood around the Erie/Judson site,” said Tom Hetrick, neighborhood planner with YNDC, “and kids must walk more than a half an hour to get to the closest city playground.”
RedZone Helping Homes, LLC, a behavioral health agency, has worked closely with the Land Bank and others in the work on Peace Park and Victory Park near East High School.
RedZone Helping Homes is also working with community groups to raise funding for a walkway, covered pavilion and other features at Victory Park.
“It’s great to see the community get together to enjoy this park, which was abandoned just a few short months ago,” said Keland Logan, RedZone Helping Homes co-owner. “The efforts toward revitalizing these spots in Youngstown enable neighborhoods to have a place to be proud of and claim as their own.”
Peace Park
The lots for Peace Park and the Erie-Judson location were previously sites of multi-family housing complexes that were turned over to the Land Bank for demolition in November 2017.
Organizers aim to open the Erie-Judson Garden by late spring 2019.
The Mahoning County Land Bank is a nonprofit community improvement corporation dedicated to acquiring vacant, abandoned, tax-delinquent properties and making them productive again. The Land Bank assists local governments in assembling land for future projects and collaborates with civic, religious and nonprofit organizations to create new green spaces and community gardens.
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