The Dayton City Commission recently approved giving a $250,000 grant to the Conscious Connect Community Development Corporation in support of the project.
Conscious Connect CDC plans to revitalize four empty properties on the 100 block of Lorenz Avenue in Westwood and one deteriorating park on the 300 block of Delaware Avenue in Five Oaks.
The pocket parks should help build neighborhood pride and a sense of belonging, said Karlos Marshall, co-founder and president of Conscious Connect CDC.
Another benefit hopefully will be crime prevention through environmental design, he said, and the revitalization of these properties should discourage illegal dumping and other nuisance issues.
Planned upgrades to the properties include new landscaping and trees and the removal of hazards at the sites. New walking paths, seating and swings should be added, and a new shelter might be installed.
“We have a history of doing these,” said Moses Mbeseha, co-founder and vice president of Conscious Connect CDC. “We have four of these types of properties in Springfield.”
Mbeseha said his group is working on a sustainability plan to ensure the properties are properly kept up in the long term when it comes to mowing and other maintenance needs.
The Lorenz Avenue properties are vacant, while the Delaware Avenue property is a rundown park called Delaware Commons.
Conscious Connect CDC acquired the properties from the city earlier this year.
Dayton City Commissioner Darryl Fairchild said he lives near the Delaware Avenue park and he frequently rides by it on the way to the bike path.
“I’ve seen it become disused and abused and dilapidated ... and there are so many kids around there, so it can be a great resource,” he said.
Fairchild and other city commissioners urged Mbeseha and Marshall to do some community engagement to inform neighbors about the pocket parks and try to get their buy-in and feedback.
Simenola Meriner, who lives on Brooklyn Avenue in the Westwood neighborhood near the Lorenz properties, said she only learned about the pocket park project the night before the city commission approved funding for it.
“The Westwood Collaborative Neighborhood Association needs to be advised of this project and any other project that they may have coming into the Westwood area,” she said during the commission meeting.
She said the neighborhood association wants to know about any plans for properties in the area to share that information with residents.
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