×

‘Diamond in the rough’

City parks project seeks to improve river area

Staff photo / Allie Vugrincic From left, cousins Emma Beaman, 5, and LeAndra Ballew, 8, of Youngstown and friend Bella Ashby, 4, of Warren play on climbing equipment in Perkins Park on Thursday afternoon.

WARREN — The Mahoning River is only yards away from the baseball diamonds and pavilions in Perkins Park, but it’s largely invisible behind the heavy foliage along the riverbank.

The city and The Nature Conservancy of Ohio are working to change that.

Warren has a $35,000 contract with the environmental organization that does work in 79 countries to improve the five city parks — Perkins, Packard, Bullhead, Burbank and Mahoningside — along the Mahoning River corridor.

“This natural resource, this diamond in the rough, has been underutilized,” Mayor Doug Franklin said. “There is a great opportunity to revitalize life in the city.”

The work along the river also complements the economic redevelopment efforts in the peninsula, which is adjacent to where the Mahoning runs through downtown, he said.

A crew from The Nature Conservancy started its work in Perkins Park in July. According to Terry Seidel, director of land protection for TNC in Ohio, one of the first steps was identifying non-native, invasive plants along the riverbank — particularly Japanese knotweed, common buckthorn and European spindle tree — and eliminating them.

“They become so dominant and the shrubs are extremely thick so you can’t see the river, and they eliminate native wildflowers,” Seidel said. “By controlling these, we reset the balance so native plants can thrive.”

Seidel said the crew found healthy white walnut trees along the river, which are becoming increasingly uncommon in the state due to blight, as well as turk’s cap lilies, a tall perennial with orange-red lily-like flowers on it.

“Some of those should be in bloom right now along the river,” he said. “That’s exactly the kind of thing we want to encourage, the spread of absolutely fantastic native species by cutting back on non-native ones.”

TNC also is assessing the pavilions and other amenities in the parks and looking at the best way to utilize them. Seidel said the group has researched these facilities statewide, and many of them were constructed by New Deal agencies during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

“It’s a bit of an underappreciated kind of architecture that we might take for granted,” he said. “This was a part of our history. They’re constructed in a very impressive manner with bedrock and hand-hewed wood, the kind of construction you’re never going to get today.

“With a little TLC and some recognition, we could encourage the city of Warren to really take some pride in them.”

The Nature Conservancy has four objectives for the project:

– Identify native plant species restoration areas, non-native invasive species populations and implement the control and removal of the most aggressive and problematic non-native invasive shrubs.

– Identify selected areas that are being maintained as turf lawn, or other uses, and assess their potential for naturalization. In some cases, naturalization may be as simple as ending mowing and allowing the area to become a “meadow.” It also could involve planting of native species. Naturalization creates better opportunities for natural walking paths and wildlife observation while also helping to decrease maintenance costs and reduce habitat for nuisance Canada geese.

– The Tea House and Pavilion at Packard Park long have been recognized as important historical features. Other structures in Packard and Perkins parks, built during the 1930s and 1940s as a part of the New Deal, are not as well understood by the public. These classic examples of “Parkitecture,” a rustic style of architecture, will be assessed and opportunities for increasing public appreciation will be identified.

– Connecting the parks through easements or additional ownership may provide new opportunities for public enjoyment of the river and the parkland. Ownership patterns will be reviewed to assess the feasibility of the concept.

Trici Johnston, an accountant in the city’s community development department, said the work in July covered 4.5 acres of the park and 2,900 liner feet of stream restoration. They will return to Perkins Park in September for additional work, and efforts in Packard Park should start around Halloween.

“When you walk down into Perkins Park, there are open pockets where you can see the river,” Johnston said. “It’s really beautiful.”

Franklin added, “I’ve been receiving calls from people who enjoy our parks and are happy about finally getting to see the shoreline unobstructedly. We’ve just scratched the surface. There will be more of that coming … When I hear those positive comments from citizens, it makes me even more encouraged. This will be a great project for the city.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
     

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.85/week.

Subscribe Today