Councilman ready to roll up sleeves on North Belle Vernon park work

Work could begin early next year on the beginning of the long-awaited improvements to the North Belle Vernon park, renovations that include a new soccer field, playground area, hockey court and new pavilion.

“I hope to have an aggressive schedule for the park. I don't want to do it one step at a time,” said North Belle Vernon Councilman Robert J. Sokol, who has spearheaded plans to improve the North Belle Vernon Community Bank Park on Graham Street.

Sokol said he wants to begin the initial phase of the work in early January, once the paperwork is completed for a $159,000 matching grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, through its Community Conservation Partnership Program. He said he would like to have the entire project finished by July.

“We can start the minor things, the site preparation work, like tearing down the old playground,” or renovating the pavilion and coating the poles with rust-proofing paint, Sokol said.

The plans for improving the park include installing an artificial surface soccer field, bordered by a 20-foot fence. The existing children's playground will be replaced with a modern playground that meets increased safety requirements for children using the equipment. The tennis courts will be removed and a new restroom facility will be built, one that is handicapped accessible. A dek hockey rink is planned.

With all of the improvements planned, coupled with the location off Interstate 70, Sokol predicted that the park could draw 15,000 or 16,000 visitors a year. Sokol said he believes the park will be used by athletic teams and residents from several communities in the Mon Valley, not just North Belle Vernon.

Before doing the improvements, the borough officials will meet with a project engineer that the Conservation and Natural Resources department has assigned to the project, Sokol said.

Under terms of the grant, North Belle Vernon needs to provide matching funds or contributions in kind totaling $165,000, Sokol said. A group supporting the playground renovations has raised $100,000. The borough can get credit toward meeting the matching requirement, by having volunteers work at the site.

Mayor Craig Ambrose said that with the borough's tight budget, it will not be able to provide money to meet the matching requirements for the grant but will provide employees who will help with the park renovations.

“The borough will pitch in with hours worked at the park,” Ambrose said.

The state credits the borough at a rate of almost $22 an hour toward its matching requirement when volunteers work at the park, Sokol said. Contributions of material and equipment also can be counted as part of the matching funds requirement, Sokol said.

Sokol said he also wants to work with the Lowe's Heroes employee volunteer program sponsored by Lowe's Companies Inc., the building supply chain based in Mooresville, N.C. Under the Lowe's Heroes program, Lowe's employees have volunteered thousands of hours to support local projects, according to Lowe's website.

When the project is advertised for bids, Sokol said he hopes to be able to save money on materials and equipment by bidding it through Lowe's list of vendors, who may be able to provide certain products at a lower cost, Sokol said.

Just like owners of professional sports stadiums sell the naming rights to their venues — like PNC Park and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh — North Belle Vernon has received money for naming the playground the North Belle Vernon Community Bank Park. Community Bank paid $15,000 in 2013 for the 10-year naming rights, Sokol said.

To generate revenue to help maintain the park, Sokol said he wants to hang billboards on the chain link fence and possible screen printing of company logos on the safety paddings that will surround the soccer field and hockey court.

“This phase is a more expensive advertising scheme derived to generate a bigger monetary flow for the park,” Sokol said.

He also envisions creating a directory where local businesses, organizations and churches can have their name placed for a monthly fee of $20 or $25.

The money generated for the park will be placed in a special fund for the park and will not be included in the borough's general fund, Sokol said.

Sokol noted he faced some criticism when he undertook the project from those who doubted that the money could be raised and the efforts to rehab the old playground would bear fruit.

“Now that it has become a reality, they have jumped on the bandwagon and are supporting it,” Sokol said.

Joe Napsha is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.