For now, because of space and financial limitations, residents of South Lorain are not getting the community center that some have asked for. But they are getting just about everything else they want when South Lorain Community Park opens in late summer.
Community engagement was vital when planning this $1.3 million, multi-functional park located at 30th Street and Vine Avenue. The property is owned and maintained by Raise Up (formerly Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority) and developed with the cooperation of the City of Lorain. The park is part of the Southside Gateway Community Plan, with a mission to reimage Raise Up's Southside Gardens with improved public space and housing.
Gale Sayers Proby, Raise Up's chief operating officer, admits it took a bit to empower residents to use their voice. But once Raise Up won the trust and respect of the neighborhood — and those bulldozers and backhoes started pushing dirt around after a February groundbreaking — community support really kicked in.
“We tried to give everyone everything they wanted,” says Judith Carlin, Raise Up chief executive officer. “It was our desire to do something bigger and better for this community. There wasn’t a safe, secure play area or gathering point for the people who live here with us at Southside Gardens. Our partners on this project and our residents told us there was also a great need for a permanent programming space.”
Greater ambitions mean greater expense, and the park went from having a $200,000 budget to its present cost ($1.3 million). But Carlin says the grander plan helps promote community pride, health and education. The park is being funded by a $100,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant awarded in 2022 and philanthropic donations. Fundraising efforts are continuing.
“The park is just the first step in the Southside Gardens redevelopment,” says Carlin.
Rolando Matias, market lead and design strategist with MA Design in Columbus, is a project lead for the park. Although South Lorain is multi-cultural, Matias, born in Puerto Rico, is especially proud that he is a part of South Lorain’s revitalization, which historically has had a large Puerto Rican population.
“We are already seeing the valuable impact this park has with added interest in affordable housing and a new sense of community,” says Carlin.
