Community rallies to revitalize area park

Monica Allison recalls a time not so long ago when she would look out the window of her home at 49th and Catharine Streets and grow agitated.

The park across the street was a mess of broken benches and tangled electrical wires, and the surrounding fence made the whole area look like a prison, she said.

Two and a half years later, Cedar Park, which sits between 49th and 50th streets on Baltimore Avenue, has traded in its wire fence for a brightly colored mosaic entrance -- and more beautification efforts are under way.

A dedication ceremony for the new entryway on Dec. 17 will celebrate the work done to the park thus far to exchange its reputation as a dangerous hub of criminal activity for the distinction of being a community destination spot.

Cedar Park Neighbors, a community-development organization, has spearheaded a new program to renew the park with the help of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Parks Revitalization Project office.

According to Cedar Park Neighbors Vice President Maureen Tate, before current efforts began, the block-long park had not undergone renovations in about 35 years, during which time it had fallen into serious disrepair.

"People were abusing the park with trash, public drinking and crime," she said. "It got very dark at night, and people would stay away."

At a Cedar Park Neighbors board meeting a few years ago, a number of community members insisted that improving the park -- which is located at the geographic center of the community -- would build neighborhood pride, stimulate economic growth and reduce crime.

Since that meeting, Cedar Park Neighbors members have raised enough money to plant new flower gardens and trees and to restore a war memorial at the eastern entrance of the park that was erected in 1911. The greenery is regularly maintained by community volunteers.

Allison, now an active participant in the project, said that watching the community's children break up concrete last year to plant a flower bed was particularly moving.

"The kids on the block came out with their sledgehammers and started digging and moving rocks," she said. "It was fabulous."

Most recently, Cedar Park Neighbors collaborated with two artists from the local Mural Arts Program to decorate the park's western entrance with mosaic tiles. On the ground, a circular mosaic features five cedar trees, while "Cedar Park" is spelled out in tiles along a low wall.

Major goals for the future include improving the park's lighting and replacing its aging playground equipment.

"When spaces are well cared for, those who would like to abuse those spaces with drug deals or crime find that there is a caring community who is not going to stand for it," Tate said.

Allison agreed.

"Even the guys who sit and drink in the park have started to clean up after themselves," she said.

She added that this summer, during the outdoor jazz concerts held every Friday at the farmer's market across the street, a large number of people brought their chairs into the park to enjoy the concert from there.

"The playground area was filled with children, and people brought their barbecue grills," she said. "It was really great for the community."

Though Allison said the revitalization effort has created a sense of solidarity among some neighborhood residents, she added that the community still has room to grow more cohesive.

"When we are working on the park we sometimes have people come off the street and ask, 'How can I help?'" she said. "But we still have a ways to go."

Parks Revitalization Project Manager Paul Bonfanti, whose office works with 69 local parks, said that his program has contributed $15,000 toward improvements in Cedar Park and has dispatched an adviser to work with community volunteers.

He said that cleaning up community parks has become increasingly popular in recent years.

"When a park is revitalized it can lift up the spirit of a neighborhood," he said. "It's an opportunity for people to come together."

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