SCRANTON — Hidden in a dead-end area of Pine Brook, the Chic Feldman Field recreational area needs more than a little TLC.
A baseball sandlot infield has ponds of standing water, while the grass outfield has holes. Damaged bleachers have jagged posts that could impale a fall victim. A playground set has old swings ripped apart or held together with duct tape. Gouges at the bottom of a plastic slide would scrape whizzing buttocks.
The Chic Feldman Field has the second-worst condition of the city’s 30 park facilities, according to a recent request for proposals, called an RFP, by the city seeking consultants to devise a recreation needs assessment and project activities for the next five years.
City officials aim to get a better handle on the parks and their maintenance and operational needs, Business Administrator David Bulzoni said.
Overall, the city’s parks and recreation system has suffered from “years and years and years of under-investment,” Bulzoni said.
The administration of Mayor Wayne Evans issued the RFP in public notices last month in The Times-Tribune, with a deadline of Friday for submissions.
Proposals from two firms unsealed Friday at City Hall included: Urban Research & Development Corp. of Bethlehem, $51,600; and Thomas J. McLane Associates of Scranton, $66,700.
The RFP included general evaluations
by Parks and Recreation Director Brian Fallon
scoring the conditions of all park facilities on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest, or poor, and 5 being the highest, or excellent.
For example, Crowley Park
in Green Ridge
that just had a complete makeover, and the recently fully reconstructed Duffy Park
at the new Harrison Avenue Bridge,
each received a score of 5
.
But the long-defunct Penn Ridge
swim complex in Pine Brook,
also known as the Capouse Avenue pool,
received a score of 1
— the lowest of all park facilities in the city — for its bad condition. Closed for about a decade because the city could not afford to maintain it, the Penn Ridge site is an eyesore that needs a total overhaul. The pool must be pumped out weekly to remove standing water and buildings there house animals and the homeless, the evaluation says.
The defunct Novembrino
pool complex in West Scranton was scored as not applicable because it’s next up for a renovation that has been in the works for several years. The site
will undergo conversion into a splash pad park, the first of its kind in the city. The project was supposed to be completed this year, but became bogged down in negotiations over defining the scope of work and components, including plumbing and electrical, Bulzoni said. That was finally worked out, and last week he issued to the contractor a notice to proceed. But the delays have pushed the completion date to next summer, Bulzoni said.
“It’s beyond frustrating,” said West Side resident Kevin Manley, who has kept close tabs on the Novembrino project since its inception.
He frequented the Novembrino pool site as a kid and watched it devolve over the years into a vacant eyesore. He looks forward to having his two children, ages 13 and 9, being able to go there when it reopens.
Meanwhile, other parks are generally serviceable but would benefit from upgrades and attention, Bulzoni said. For example, Connell Park in South Scranton needs a lot of tree-trimming, brush removal and pool resurfacing, to name a few items, he said.
“We need to clear it out to get a sense of what it looks like and what it might need,” Bulzoni said.
That’s where a consultant comes in, he said.
While Parks and Recreation is tasked with maintaining facilities and does a good job, the department is understaffed and does not have the technical capabilities needed to undertake design improvements, he said.
A consultant would refine and expand upon Fallon’s cursory evaluations and scoring of the 30 parks and act as a liaison so the city won’t have to pursue individual RFPs for any future projects, Bulzoni said.
“Trying to maintain a system of 30 parks is no short order,” Bulzoni said.
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