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Williamsport mayor: Parks are the ‘anchor of our neighborhoods’

"Our parks are an anchor in our neighborhoods," Mayor Derek Slaughter said.

He uttered those words at the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the investment and additions at Lose Park Thursday.

"Every investment in our public spaces assists with public safety, increases neighborhood home values and is an overall quality of life improvement for the citizens, not just in this neighborhood, but our whole community and region that actually takes advantage of our amenities in our parks," Slaughter said.

Most of the other parks in the city also are getting redone, with new additions such as resurfaced playing surfaces, equipment and accessibility that will link each within neighbors to use them.

"Virtually every park in the city is receiving upgrades as we speak," he said. "Every park in the city is getting improvements and there is more to come in the next few years as we continue to make investments."

Over at Memorial Park, new basketball hoops were being installed as the event took place at Lose Park.

The hoops were complements of the U.S. Air Force, which provided a contribution for the new hoops at Memorial Park, Young's Woods and Shaw Park.

Various parks are seeing upgrades through investment, to include the American Rescue Plan Act funds. They include resurfacing of basketball, tennis courts and pickleball courts and there are two fields at Brandon Park under reconstruction and a third senior field being a project of Lycoming College

The pool at Memorial Park is open after extensive repair and renovation. The first-ever splash park at Shaw Park is scheduled to open in a few weeks, Slaughter said.

"Across the board, we are seeing these investments and I know it is going to have positive impacts," he said.

Slaughter gave credit to DCNR for a grant so the city can begin its to upgrade the parks, recreation and open spaces comprehensive plan. That request for proposals (RFP) is due to be out toward the end of July, he noted.

"Then, we will start that process of updating our comprehensive plan and that will lead to additional funding in the future to continue to upgrade our parks," he said.

The goal of the mayor is to use the investments from ARPA, Community Development Block Grant funds and DCNR to have the best parks in the region.

"It's my goal to have the best park system in the entire region," he said.

Across the state, 53% of state residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, said Wes Fahringer, a regional advisor with 11 counties served by the DCNR Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.

The park's restoration is a prime example of the use of the Keystone fund which is derived from the sale of real estate and became effective in 1993. The department has invested $250 million in 2,500 local parks.

The bureau provides technical assistance and grant funding for recreation and conservation to help municipalities like Williamsport to achieve its vision.

"I don't think you can overstate the importance that parks and recreation and open spaces play in a community," Slaughter said, adding his gratitude to DCNR secretary Cindy Adams Dunn, Fahringer, the city Community Development team and Jon Sander, the city engineer, for working with LandServe of Boalsburg and Larson Design Group.

"A lot of our projects are rolling because of Jon's vision as well," Slaughter said. "He's a tremendous asset to our team."

The mayor also recognized Scott Livermore, director of public works and the staff of the streets and parks department, for all of the time and effort that they provide.

As a side note, Jennifer Dudek of the city streets and parks department, was said to be working with others on restoring the community garden in Lose Park, which will have produce and other things to be for the neighborhood, according to the mayor.

The Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, city Recreation Department, Community Development, and Bureau of Fire Chief Sam Aungst and Deputy Chief Keith Lucas were on hand for the ribbon cutting.

As the children began to use the equipment, a city Bureau of Police vehicle rode by on Memorial Avenue.