Connellsville's parks a major part of city's attraction

John Woodruff Park, named after the Olympic gold medal-winning runner, has facilities for a number of sports.

Fayette County has two cities: Uniontown and Connellsville, but the Youghiogheny River, the Great Allegheny Passage, nearby Chestnut Ridge and verdant parks make Connellsville feel more country than urban.

East Park and Yough Park provide the city's largest recreation venues, but visionaries throughout the decades and into the present have developed eight additional parks and play areas throughout Connellsville's neighborhoods.

Individuals and groups may rent pavilions at East and Yough parks for $75 a day on weekends and $45 a day through the week. Nonprofit groups receive one free rental each year.

According to budget figures, the city received $5,095 from pavilion rental this year, a usage figure on par with previous years.

Ball teams paid the city $1,500 to use various ball fields, down several thousand dollars from 2010 because problems with light poles at Woodruff Park forced the cancellation of the night ball league. Councilman Gregory Ritch, head of parks and public buildings, said the lights will be repaired.

? East Park

Work Progress Administration laborers transformed a city garbage dump along Connell Run near Wills Road into East Park. The facility was dedicated on Oct. 12, 1940. Its unique features include an underground entrance tunnel, a castle, an outside stage and stone pillars.

Ball fields and a bandstand drew generations of athletes and crowds. Vocational students built pavilions over Connell Run.

As the decades passed, parts of East Park have not aged well. The tunnel and the castle are unsafe and need major renovation.

Ritch said renovations are taking place in stages.

In October, Tomas Lipps, a stonemason from Connellsville who now lives in Santa Fe, N.M., and a crew rebuilt two pillars that had collapsed. Fayette County Cultural Trust raised the $5,000 for the project through private donations.

The recreation department reconfigured the concession stand at East Park. Ritch said local businesses donated materials for the new counter and the floor.

The castle and tunnel projects exceed the scope of local financing and will be funded with federal Community Development Block Grant money.

Glenn Wolfe, city engineer, told the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority, which administers CDBG money on the city's behalf, that the castle needs to be rebuilt.

"I think you would be wasting your money if you just patched it. There is a drainage channel. You have to divert water to get to it," Wolfe said.

"Mr. Wolfe at Widmer Engineer has been drawing up specifications for the castle project," Ritch said. "It will include a concrete base, a drain to prevent future water problems and resetting the stones. The castle is unsafe. The tunnel needs new lighting and railing. It will be part of the castle project."

The redevelopment authority hopes to advertise the project in March, with construction beginning later in the spring.

The athletics continue at East Park, though. A flag football league plays there; softball, tennis and basketball players practice there. The park also has a play area, horseshoe pits, a boccie court and a walking path.

All are open to the public. Rest-rooms are available.

The city rents the three pavilions in East Park.

According to records at city hall, the pavilions were in use from April through October this year.

Pavilions were rented one weekend day in April; three weekend days in May, five weekend days and one week day in June, seven weekends and one week day in July; five weekend days and one week day in August; five weekend days in September; and one weekend day in October. No reservations have been made for November or December.

Ritch said preserving East Park is a priority. "East park is one of our city treasures. The castle must be rendered safe and also retain its aesthetic value."

? Yough River Park

Unlike the secluded East Park, Yough River Park sits on the Great Allegheny Passage and along the Youghiogheny River. Connellsville is the only one of the six Trail Towns in which the passage actually cuts through the community. The GAP runs from Pittsburgh to the Maryland border, where it meets the C&O Towpath. Bikers and hikers can travel this route from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

In 1976, the Connellsville Area Historical Society reconstructed the cabin that housed Col. William Crawford and his family and in which they entertained a young Col. George Washington. The cabin sits a few yards from the Great Allegheny Passage, once known as the Yough River Trail.

The historical society has also rebuilt a spring house, which serves as its snack bar, and dedicated the William Balsley Pavilion this summer.

The cabin predates the park by several years.

The historical society property abuts the city's park property.

The park was established in the 1980s to provide access to the trail and to highlight Connellsville's beautiful river and mountain scenery.

Yough River Park has undergone several transformations through the decades and continues to evolve.

The city has dedicated CDBG money for a multi-phase project scheduled for completion next year.

A wooden boardwalk was removed for safety reasons and to enhance river views. New playground equipment -- a sailing ship for older children and a train for little ones -- has been added. Additional seating in front of the stage provides a comfortable place to listen to live music or rest after biking or walking. A frost-resistant water fountain near the pavilion and one at Stewart's Crossing near Martin's Food Market also include low basins for dogs to refresh themselves.

The dog basins aren't for foot washing, however. River sand clogs them. Sprayers will be added as part of the third phase of improvements next year. Those will include making the rest-rooms handicap accessible, improving the GAP through the park and making the parking lot at First and Third streets safer.

Ritch said the city is upgrading security with infrared cameras that will record intruders at night and feed the footage to the police department.

Yough Park gets a great deal of use throughout nice weather. As of November, the city reported the following pavilion rentals: April, two weekends; May, four weekends and one weekday; June, nine weekends and two weekdays; July, 10 weekends and five weekdays; August, nine weekends and two weekdays; September, one weekend and two weekdays; and October, two weekends.

• Other parks

Ritch said the recreation department and the redevelopment authority have facilitated and plan improvements at Connellsville's other parks. "I have a great rec board," he said.

-- Austin Park has been completely refurbished, beginning several years ago when Jamie McPoyle envisioned a baseball field.

The park now boasts a Little League field, basketball courts and play equipment. The play equipment is inside the fence and replaces a tennis court that had been in disrepair.

"CSX Railroad gave us a $10,000 grant," Ritch said. "We originally used CDBG money and Grace B. Turner Fund. There's edging around the asphalt and fences have been painted. Students at the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center will build a pavilion. We're going to add a batting cage."

Plans continue for Austin Park. "At some point, we'd like to rent it out for families to use. It's becoming a premiere park in our community."

CACTC students had built covered picnic tables, Adirondack shelters and iron grills at Stewart's Crossing for GAP users. "The CACTC provides a great value to the city. They do hands-on work and when they build things for public use, these kids have a sense of pride and worth."

-- John Woodruff Park was named in honor of South Connellsville native Woodruff, who won a gold medal in the 800-meters at the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany.

It has a pavilion, a concession stand, a play area, basketball courts, a ball field and public rest-rooms.

Ritch said the park will be renovated.

"We had a light pole damaged and then another standard came over. We will be repairing them. We're adding new dirt to the ball field. There are Sunday leagues and night games once the lights are repaired. We would like to add a batting cage there," he said.

A sooner improvement will revive the winter tradition of skating in East Park, but this year in Woodruff Park. "We're testing to use as an ice skating rink on the basketball court. We're hoping to have it in place soon."

-- Mountz Creek Park has three tennis courts, a baseball field and a play area.

Ritch said future improvements include refurbishing the tennis court surfaces and installing a new toy at the play area.

-- Cameron Court has basketball courts and picnic tables installed by the CACTC for the Connellsville Garden Club.

"We want to resurface the basketball court," Ritch said.

Ritch said he has no immediate plans for Connellsville's three remaining parks.

-- 12th Street Playground has a basketball court and a play area.

-- Pinnacle Playground has a basketball court and play area.

-- South Side Park has a play area, basketball court and covered picnic table.

"Connellsville is blessed with a river and a multitude of outdoor recreation facilities," Ritch said. "It's our job to make them attractive and popular places for residents and visitors to use and enjoy."