(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

On March 28, I attended an informational meeting concerning replacing the pavilion in the City Park. The proposal is a huge modern building overwhelming the park. It takes up too much outside space and does not fit in with the integrity of a city park. The building should look like it belongs in the park, not like something from another century. Parking for the proposed building, which has capacity of 1,000 or more, would be a major neighborhood problem. A building the size proposed should be somewhere else, maybe Fort Boreman, where it can be expanded as years go by, or downtown near the parking lots or empty buildings.

The money saved by shrinking the proposed building could be used to repair the pond (sides falling in). Remove cement piece in middle of pond with weeds. Repair walls falling over. Add comfortable seating, i.e. corner of Park Avenue and 23rd. Repair horse shoe pit (pigeon nest). Could be doubled as a cornhole pit. Maintain tennis, basketball and pickle ball courts.

I looked up the definition of a park in a city.

“A park is an open space providing for recreational use. Grass is typically kept short to discourage insect pests and to allow enjoyment of picnic and sporting activities. Parks are excellent spaces where families and friends can gather to enjoy fresh air and scenery.”

The Park pavilion is about to reach a milestone not seen often in Parkersburg. It will soon be 100 years old and is still standing. The city of Parkersburg has a penchant for demolishing, as seen in what is left of downtown. Other structures in the park were saved from demolition and revitalized. We must strive to preserve the pavilion and revitalize it for the integrity of the city park.

The proposed activity center would take away from the “City Park.” The festival atmosphere and park feeling would be lost in the shadow of the large multipurpose building and the park would end up a parking lot with an activity center, not a park in the city.

Helen Whitlatch

Parkersburg