MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 28, 2007 – Students in Professor Amara Geffen's Environmental Art class at Allegheny College have spent this semester working on a proposal for the revitalization of Meadville's Shadybrook Park. Their work is part of the “Meadville, PA: Not Your Run of the Mill Community” project, developed by the college's Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED).
Seven students from the class will share their research and recommendations and ask for community feedback and support at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 6 in the cafeteria of the Meadville Area Senior High School. All interested members of the community are invited to attend the meeting and offer ideas, suggestions and comments, which will be used to finalize recommendations.
Situated in a clearing between North Street and Morgan Street, Shadybrook Park sits in close proximity to the Meadville Area Junior/Senior High School and is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. Throughout the semester the students – who include seniors Lana Cannon, Meghan Perry and Jessica Zinz, juniors Erin Towart and Brittany Rechtin, and sophomores Sarah Gentile and Stephen Pope – have envisioned options for improvements to Mill Run and Shadybrook Park.
Work began this semester with a site use analysis that showed that the park, while underutilized, serves as a site for picnics, exercise and dog walking. Local residents indicated that playground equipment and the stairs connecting the park with upper Morgan Street are both in need of repair and suggested that improvements in lighting would enhance safety.
In addition to speaking with park users, the class met with environmental engineers, city planners and visiting planner Stephen Goldsmith to discuss best practices for improving water quality at the site.
Research by MASH and Allegheny College students raised questions about water quality in Rainbow Lake and Mill Run. As a result Geffen's students are recommending that further analysis is needed to determine the source of the problems and to develop the best solutions. Students will present information on these and other issues at the community meeting, including brief presentations on the history of Mill Run and the park.
Students will also present a video of community conversations on the value of Shadybrook Park, as well as preliminary concept plans for potential redesign of the park. Possibilities for improvements include creation of a walking path around the park's perimeter, floodplain and stream-bank plantings, creation of a small overflow wetland area and stormwater enhancements, all designed to improve the park's environmental qualities and features.
Students will also recommend creation of a living fence around the spillway dam and implementation of an annual community mural project. Designs for an informational display on the history of Shadybrook Park and flood control measures in Meadville will also be presented.
Community response to these recommendations will be used to inform preparation of the Growing Greener grant, which was prioritized by the county last year.
For additional information on the community meeting, the efforts of the Allegheny students at Shadybrook Park, or the “Meadville, PA: Not Your Run of the Mill Community” project, call (814) 332-2713 or visit Allegheny College's Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED) webpage: http://ceed.allegeny.edu.
