BARBERTON: Residents who live near Tuscora Park unhappily watched Barberton City Council vote 7-1 Monday to lease five acres of the east side park to Summa.
The land will become a parking lot on the hospital’s Barberton campus.
Residents who live near the campus have attended several public meetings to voice their opposition to the hospital’s vision for closing Paige Avenue and turning 10 acres of green space and park land into a paved parking lot.
Michael Dalton, Summa’s director of government relations, said the hard part starts once the lease is signed by Summa and Mayor Bill Judge.
“We need to go forward with the plan and still maintain our commitment to the city,” Dalton said. “We need Barberton and they need us to be successful to keep the community vibrant.”
Summa is the city’s largest employer, with 1,200 on its payroll.
The hospital asked the city council to close Paige Avenue, a residential street, for the length of the hospital property, and to lease it five acres of Tuscora Park.
Summa intends to raze its 42-year-old parking deck, saying it has cost $1 million in maintenance over the past four years.
It doesn’t want to replace it, because a new deck would cost $17 million to $20 million — money that hospital officials say they want to use to update the hospital’s operating rooms and make other renovations. The proposed parking project will cost about $4 million.
The parking deck property, the current surface parking lot behind it, the closed street, the leased park land, and another five or so acres of land owned by the hospital would all be turned into one large paved parking lot with 1,200 spaces.
Residents have long complained about the hospital taking park land. With the lease of the five acres, Tuscora Park will become roughly half the size it used to be in its heyday as the east side’s primary community space, with room for tennis, baseball, basketball and soccer, a pair of playgrounds, a wading pool and pavilions.
Those who live along Lake Avenue are also concerned about the hospital’s intent to make their residential street the hospital’s delivery route once Paige is closed.
Hospital officials, however, defended their role in the community, saying they have been good stewards of the former park land. In recent years, they added a cancer center recognized around the state and built a new emergency room.
The latest deal with the city calls for leasing five acres of Tuscora for $17,500 a year for 10 years, bringing the total to the land’s appraised value of $175,000. After 10 years, the land use would be reconsidered and turned back over to the city if the parking space became unnecessary due to changes at the hospital.
In addition, the hospital would give the city a one-time payment of $275,000. City officials said they would use about $75,000 to replace the lost ballfield by adding another ballfield to the west side’s McCafferty Park.
If approved, construction would begin after the spring 2017 senior leagues finish their season at Tuscora Park, and the city would begin work at McCafferty so the ballfield is ready for the following year.