Volunteers revitalize basketball courts downtown

NEWARK — A few blocks from the square, the beautification of downtown Newark continues with the help of volunteers from the Licking County Board of Realtors.

The basketball courts at East Main and Buena Vista streets have new benches and a butterfly garden now with the help of a $2,400 grant from the National Association of Realtors.

Chelsa Corwin, executive assistant at the Licking County Board of Realtors, spearheaded the grant process. She received the funds within days of submitting the application. That was in early August.

Since then, Corwin has been working with the Newark City Parks Department to implement her vision for a “place within a place.”

“We created a place where the community can sit and gather,” Corwin said. “We wanted to make it a safer place for children.”

“We are giving it color and making it a better place to play,” she said.

The park now includes benches behind the basketball courts and a butterfly garden between the courts and the railroad tracks. That was put in for beauty and to keep kids away from the tracks, Corwin said.

Volunteers from the board of Realtors also have dedicated time to repainting the basketball hoops and the fences surrounding them at the park.

“I love the colors of the benches. They are bright and exciting,” Newark Mayor Jeff Hall said Thursday.

“The parks are so important to this community,” Hall said. “And when the private sector steps up, that’s just great.”

The new benches are bright yellow and red. Kids playing in the park during the design process helped the volunteers decide the best places to put the benches so they were out of the way but kids could still watch their friends on the courts.

“The kids have been excellent. They have been so supportive,” said Patty Osborn, executive officer of the county’s board of Realtors. “We’re shocked at how welcoming the kids have been.”

Osborn said that some kids have come by to help water the butterfly garden. She said she is encouraging them to take ownership of the space.

Water is brought in to the park every day for the garden. Because they started so late in the summer season, Osborn said the volunteers have had to work hard to make sure the plants are able to thrive despite the heat and lack of rain.

A formal ribbon cutting will take place at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 24. Osborn said organizers also are hoping to donate basketballs to the park at the ribbon cutting.

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