Grant Park Neighborhood Gets $150,000 Windfall In/Around: Grant Park

For years, park workers believed a retaining wall in Grant Park needed fixing.

The wall was built to create a level surface for the tennis courts just west of the South Perry business district.

Parks officials were so convinced the wall needed replacement they included the work in last year’s $15 million park improvement bond issue.

Then, the city hired an engineering consultant to investigate the job and other work approved by voters last September.

Eric Johnson, co-chair of the East Central Neighborhood Council, said, “They decided the suspect wall was good enough. Now, the Grant Park neighborhood has $150,000 to spend.”

Interim Park Director Mike Stone said the money should be spent at Grant Park, or under the direction of the people who live in the neighborhood.

Park and neighborhood leaders plan to organize a community meeting this spring to talk about options.

Business owners, who are trying to spruce up the South Perry business district, already have an idea.

They have proposed improvements to the west entrance to Grant Park along a stub of 10th Avenue that runs from Perry between Gertrude’s Black Forest Deli and the Altamont Pharmacy.

The entrance leads to a diamond-shaped parking lot that is showing signs of age.

Its asphalt is broken and cracked. A dirt island in the center of the parking area is filled with weeds.

Mel Silva, president of the South Perry Business Association, said the Perry entrance should have a new design, a new sidewalk, new pavement, more grass and a picnic shelter, possibly a gazebo.

The shelter could be wired with electrical power for public uses. Drinking water could be piped to a new faucet near the shelter.

He said the shelter and grassy area would become a draw for shoppers and local residents. It would create a nice transition between the historic business strip and the park.

A sign over the entrance would identify Grant Park, and grass could be planted up to the sidewalk along Perry.

“Let’s let people know there is a Grant Park back here,” Silva said.

Johnson said the Grant Park entrance idea has merit, but neighbors still must have a chance to consider other ideas as well. He said the money should remain within the East Central Neighborhood’s park system.

The South Perry business district is slated to get $40,000 in federal community development money this year for improvements along Perry, primarily in the sidewalk or parking areas.

Over the years, a lot of community development money has gone into East Central parks. The federal funds were used to resurface the Grant Park tennis courts last year.

Investment in the business district is seen as the start of a long-term program to upgrade the historic business area, which has been undergoing something of a revival in recent years.