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“Why is Middle Park between Fourth Street and Park Avenue completely closed off to the public? It’s been that way for years, can’t drive into it from either end, unless you can walk, no one can get access to a public park area.”
MANSFIELD — The status of Middle Park is a frequent flyer question for Richland Source readers through our Open Source tool.
Reporter Katie Ellington Serrao most recently addressed the park’s status in July 2020 during the opening months of the COVID-109 pandemic, when residents were looking for safe places to go outdoors.
When the latest question arrived earlier this week, it seemed like a good time to update the status of the 23-acre park located between North Lake Park and South Park.
The simple fact is the park is still only accessible by foot, according to Mark Abrams, the city’s parks and recreation superintendent.
And that likely won’t change any time soon, even if the department receives additional funding beyond the $800,000-plus it receives annually through a designated income tax fund.
“It’s a beautiful park,” said Abrams. “It has some good scenery. It’s densely treed. It has a stream running through it.”
Technically, the park remains open to the public. But there is no parking at either end, which means those wanting to walk into the park will have to walk just to get there.
There is also no playground equipment or other amenities found in some other city parks. There is a covered pavilion, though access to it is difficult.
There is a wooden bridge over a creek to an open area, though it is missing some boards and the ground on the east side of the bridge has washed away.
There is some debris in the creek, including a large old culvert and what looks like a child’s “Power Wheels” toy.
There have been a couple of changes since 2020.
The crumbling, old sandstone bridge that once allowed cars to drive into the park from Park Avenue was removed earlier this year.
That removal makes even walking into the park from Park Avenue a difficult proposition.
Vehicle accessibility from Fourth Street ended in 2019 when a culvert under the road collapsed, rendering it unsafe for vehicle traffic. It is an easy walk into the park from Fourth Street, though parking is limited nearby.
Abrams said improvements at the park were planned had voters in May approved a 0.25-percent, four-year income tax increase.
The tax would have generated about $3.7 million annually. That’s just over $15 million over four years — $8 million of which would have gone to a new public aquatics center at Liberty Park.
However, 55 percent of city voters who took part in the primary election rejected the issue.
The only money allocated to the parks department comes from a portion of the PRIDE income tax levy, first approved by voters in 2013.
The PRIDE levy generates about $3.7 million annually, with 50 percent going to the police and fire departments, 22 percent to parks and recreation, 20 percent to building demolition and 8 percent to lighting.
The city’s $29 million “master plan” for parks, unveiled in April 2020, called for a $1.1 million investment in Middle Park.
Recommendations for the park included continuing pedestrian-only access; converting the asphalt road-to-trail system focused on pedestrian connectivity; developing Middle Park as a central anchor of north/south linear park connection to the B&O Trail; providing east-west neighborhood connections where feasible; adding flashing pedestrian crossing signals at West Fourth Street and Park Avenue; renovating the picnic shelter and upgrading the picnic area; repairing the bridge connection to the proposed picnic area; redeveloping the sledding hill that previously existed; and considering a nature-based playscape or nature-play trail.
Without additional funds, Abrams said, incremental, piecemeal improvements will be sought at Middle Park.
“We have started some ‘naturalization’ efforts,” he said. “We are mowing about 15 feet wide from the (road that goes through the park). The rest we are simply letting go back to nature until we can get money to improve the park.
“We would like to put a wooden bridge across the creek (near the entrance from Park Avenue), something sturdy enough for foot and bicycle traffic,” he said. “We would like to find a way to add some additional parking.
“We haven’t looked at the costs yet. We will begin work on that next month when we start putting together the 2023 budget,” he said.
