As Ewing Park residents continue to propose a girls softball field at the Ewing Park School property, the school district will make a special exemption request to implement the facility to the zoning hearing board during a 10 a.m. meeting on Dec 4.
The meeting will be held at the borough building. Current zoning allows for a park or playground but not a sports field. The district hopes to win the appeal and get one step closer to the softball complex they have planned.
The proposed softball field
The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors unanimously approved a plan to commit to improving district softball and baseball facilities in July of 2023. The plan, provided by HHSDR in an athletic facility study, includes a newly constructed softball field on the Ewing Park School property. Should the plan come to fruition, it will be funded via a local athletic capital campaign, led by local resident Bill Nardone. The cost of the softball field will be $1,880,000 (see a list of detailed costs in photos).
Residents on the three blocks that surround the proposed complex, however, have stood up with strong opposition. Many support the implantation of a field, but not at that location. Numerous residents have spoke out regarding noise concerns, safety concerns, traffic concerns, parking concerns, property damage concerns, and property value concerns.
Beatty Street resident Zach Powell said “We oppose it,” he said. “And we will continue to strongly oppose it.”
The opposition is so strong from the residents in the area that in early 2024, they formulated a group The Citizens for Ewing Park Preservation (CEPP).
Chairperson for the group, Karen Mancini, is a resident of Beatty Street, which faces the old Ewing Park School property. She made a statement on behalf of the group during the ECASD Board of Director’s meeting in February, “We are organized and represented by legal counsel and stand ready to oppose any attempt to convert the subject property to a ball field and we hope that the School District will consider a less impactful use of the property that complies with the current zoning regulations.”
Mancini, had told the board that CEPP is made up of about 25 community members. Some of the members of the group don’t live in Ewing Park, but they believe in preserving the green space at the proposed location of the softball field.
“Our mission is to preserve the park and the entrance to the park,” Mancini said. “No matter who you talk to, they say that a softball field doesn’t belong there. It’s going to make Ewing Park look terrible. We want to preserve that green space.”
The district has remained steadfast in their commitment and determination to build the complex in that location.
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