CLEVELAND — Some residents living in Cleveland's Slavic Village Hyacinth neighborhood believe they deserve more attention from city hall when it comes to their city parks and other community assets.
Slavic Village residents like Jane Rolf told News 5 the City of Cleveland has contributed too many tax dollars to downtown projects and not enough funding to neighborhood projects and improvements for community centers like Hyacinth Park, which she says has be neglected for years.
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Rolf said the park needs baseball field renovations, better security lighting and landscaping improvements after vehicle and motorcycle riders have constantly turfed the park lawn.
“They probably need it put more cameras up to catch the people what are doing the four-wheelers, and they tear up the park when they ride through there," Rolf said. “In downtown, constantly they’re doing stuff down there to make it look better, but they’re not doing nothing in our neighborhood.”
Cleveland Hyacinth Block Club member Kathy McDonald told News 5 that a recent parks and recreation center survey just completed by the City of Cleveland needed more Slavic Village resident input, even though the city believes the 555 people responding is enough for a representative sample.
Over 20-years, the last time the playground was updated was when Mayor Campbell was in office," McDonald said, “I don't know anything about a survey that was done, I never got a notice of it and I know they didn’t do one over here in the Broadway area. Our slogan right now is neighborhoods over downtown, we need money into the neighborhoods.”
Results from a Parks and Recreation 2023 Master Plan survey revealed a wide range of responses:
-50% of residents say the Cleveland parks facilities are not well maintained.
-38% say the atmosphere is poor or uncomfortable.
-40% do not know where to go or what is offered.
-More than 40% of survey respondents think parks are in excellent or good condition.
-Two-thirds of people who filled out the survey support an increase in taxes or levies to fund parks and rec facilities.
Cleveland Ward 5 Councilman Richard Starr told News 5 he's in the process of looking for the funding that would fuel Hyacinth Park improvements in 2024, and admits Slavic Village needs to be a bigger part of the city master plan, telling the council Municipal Services & Properties committee Slavic Village needs a bigger voice at city hall.
"Making sure that we have the strategic plan in place that everybody’s voice is heard, often felt that the St. Hyacinth neighborhood and North Broadway were not being heard and they have not had the representation," Starr said. “I don’t see central, I don’t see Ward 5, I don’t see North Broadway as being a place of civic engagement and that’s something that we’re going to correct.”
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb's office quickly responded to News 5 and said in 2024 the city is spending nearly $10 million towards numerous improvements at parks and facilities across the City. More than $8 million will go towards 17 different parks/adjacent Rec centers, 1 in each Ward, and more than $1 million will go towards 14 basketball courts.
The city issued additional details in the following statement about its parks and recreation center master plan:
Parks/Rec Center improvements – Design budget approvals have been issued for 8 Parks/Rec Center locations.
We hope to start demolition within the next few months and begin installing sometime in the Spring. We are working on finalizing the designs and budgets of the other 9 sites.
Basketball Courts – We are hopeful to complete renovations in Summer 2024.
The City of Cleveland told News 5 it will take additional community input at the end of phase two of the master plan this coming summer.
Meanwhile, Slavic Village residents like Tiffany McDonald remain concerned about Hyacinth Park's safety.
“That whole area by the sliding board right there, I guess somebody put gasoline on it and burned it, McDonald said. “We need everything, but they’re worried about downtown. If anybody walks past here at night time, who knows, somebody might be hiding or something and start robbing you."
News 5 will follow through on this developing story.
