Residents question project plans at Aaron Davies Playground

WEIRTON -- Members of Weirton's Park Board heard concerns Thursday about the future of one of the city's neighborhood playgrounds and the status of some long-proposed improvements.

Resident Chip Davies was joined by others from the Terrace Heights neighborhood and other supporters, asking about work at the Aaron Davies Memorial Playground on Mayfair Street. The playground was renamed for Davies' son, who died in 2005 following a battle with cancer.

A $5,000 grant, provided through a foundation created in Aaron's memory, previously was awarded to the Park Board to assist with some of the improvements.

"A lot of people are waiting," Davies said. "I'm kind of frustrated."

The grant, awarded in 2023, has been targeted for the development of a pickleball court, with Davies noting new fencing and court surfacing would be needed.

Parks Executive Director Coty Shingle reassured Davies the grant has not been spent on any other project, noting while work has been done at the park, both through the efforts of the Park Board and the Davies family, it has not affected the grant.

"Everything we have done up there has come out of the Park Board's pockets," he said, indicating some funding also was provided by Mayor Dean Harris through his allotment of civic contribution dollars.

Shingle said he shares Davies' frustrations, but time is needed to make certain all of the funding is lined up and all of the plans are feasible.

"If we hire a contractor, we would spend $5,000 in designs," Shingle said.

He said he is hopeful crews from the city's Public Works Department will have availability to resurface the basketball courts in September, assisting with some of the work.

Shingle reminded the residents in attendance that, while several projects have been completed at other city recreational sites recently, many of them took up to 10 years of planning and involved in-house labor.

Davies said he appreciates the hurdles the Park Board contends with and the effort made to improve local parks and playgrounds. He simply wants to make sure the youth in his area have somewhere to go.

"There's a lot of young children in the neighborhood," Davies said.

Ward 1 Councilman Tim Connell, also a member of the Park Board, said there have been similar issues at the Bennett Drive Playground, which previously had been allocated Community Development Block Grant funds for improvements.

"The big contractors said it was too small, the small contractors said too big," Connell said, explaining that not being able to get the project moving resulted in the federal funds being reprogrammed for another project.

In other matters, Bob Kolanko, representing the Weirton Pickleball Association, thanked the Park Board for the efforts to redesign the courts at Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Park into a combination tennis and pickleball facility.

"It's phenomenal," Kolanko said. "We'll get 40 people up there playing."

He noted the number of tennis players also is growing.

The $75,000 project included a contribution of $50,000 from the Weirton Rotary Club, with the design organized through the Pickleball Association. Kolanko noted it took two years for the project to be completed.