Posted by Craig Young on Sep 25, 2017
Story By Lori Steineck
Repository staff writer
 
Canton - More than a dozen volunteers worked under a sunny sky Saturday morning to develop a "pocket park" at 19th Street and Edwards Avenue N.E. They were taking part in the Habitat for Humanity East Central Ohio-initiated neighborhood enhancement program that includes creating a park in the center of the neighborhood of about 800 home, a neighborhood that can be completely revitalized, said Aaron Brown, director of Habitat's Neighborhood Investment.
 
Mayor Thomas Bernabei and members of the Rotary Club of Canton volunteered to help, with the goal of assembling benches in the pocket park, as well as trash receptacles, a bicycle station, decorative planters and a community bulletin board.  The pocket park is in the central area of the neighborhood, which reaches from 25th Street N.E. to the north, Royal Avenue to the west, Harrisburg Avenue to the east and 16th Street to the south. 
 
About 300 families will benefit from the revitalization, including the homeowners on opposite corners of 19th Street N.E. where, Brown said, the county's public bus service operates bus stops. SARTA is moving the bus drop off to the pocket park. "When I told the man (who lives at one corner), he smiled. He's pretty happy. Nobody's going to be sitting on his lawn anymore waiting for the bus to come," Brown said.
 
Already owned by the city of Canton and the Parks Department, the $40,000 pocket park is privately funded. The Rotary Club of Canton and the Canton Joint Recreation District each provided $15,000 grants, the Belden Brick Co. provided the bricks at no cost and the city is providing two LED light posts. The park is just one part of Habitat's Renewal Project, a four-year project costing about $3.5 million for the Harrisburg-Royal neighborhood, according to a news release from Habitat.
 
Brown said the neighborhood boasts a home ownership rate of about 64 percent, while the average throughout the city is 51.4 percent. He told the crowd gathered that what that percentage says about the neighborhood is, "People want to stay in this neighborhood. There are a lot of families. There are a lot of elderly folks who want to age in place." 
 
"We are building new homes, preserving homes and helping existing home-owners fix up their houses," he said, adding that with revitalization efforts, the agency hopes their work will increase property values.
 
Follow this LINK to view all photos of Canton Rotarians volunteering at the Pocket Park on Saturday, September 23, 2017.
 
The following Rotarians worked very hard on Saturday. They are as follows: PP Craig Young, Phil Lattavo, Steve Fettman, Shawn Dougherty, Bob Matthews, PDG/PP Bob Pattison, President Amanda Tietze, Mayor Thomas Bernabei, Scott Barwick, Vice President Mark Rojek and Office Administrator Lauri Coy.