'It just kind of clicked': Neighbors push for park access amid Harrison school deal
Residents in Port Huron’s Harrison Pointe neighborhood don’t see local kids using the playground behind the old Harrison school building as much as they once did.
The basketball hoops were taken down, the equipment is on the older side, and with the pending sale of the property from the Port Huron Area School District to SONS Outreach, some of them weren’t sure they’d still have access moving forward.
That’s when resident Julie Snyder decided to approach Nancy Winzer, the city’s parks and recreation director near the start of 2023.
“It just kind of clicked, we’re going by all these new, beautiful parks, and I’m like, ‘We don’t have a park in our neighborhood anymore.’ And if you’ve got the grandkids or your kids, you have to cross Lapeer or Water Street, which is very dangerous,” said Snyder, who lives on 14th Street.
“We have nine grandkids,” she added. “They all love to go to the park because we do the race cars and stuff like that. And we were doing basketball, but that’s not an option anymore. … So, I don’t want to put a hoop out in the street, and then, we really don’t have a big enough yard for a swing set. We like to go to the park a lot, but we have to drive.”
Neighbor Kathleen McCready also took her concerns about losing the school playground to City Council members in February. In an interview last week, she echoed the sentiment about the site’s legacy in the neighborhood as “an accepted, integrated play area” for local kids.
Now, city officials said they’re weighing the options to revitalize the playground or bring some sort of recreation back to Harrison Pointe.
But no matter how, SONS Outreach CEO Tyrone Burrell said local residents will always have access.
“I think in the years to come, however we partner with the city, it’s going to be a nice park for the kids,” he said. “The families don’t have to worry.”
What is the status of SONS' deal with Port Huron Schools?
Port Huron’s school board OK’d selling the Harrison Center in November.
And SONS, a youth advocacy group that stands for Save Our Neighborhoods and Streets, put a $500,000 offer on the 60,000-square-foot building through Kramer Commercial Realty.
However, the two parties haven’t yet closed on the deal.
Port Huron Area Schools forwarded comment to broker Korissa Kramer, who said she hoped to see the offer complete by April.
SONS representatives said they were still exercising their due diligence, having extended their initial 90-day option period.
Part of that, Burrell said, means they were weighing what inspections and repairs needed to be done, while Tony Essian, who chairs SONS’ fundraising campaign, said it was looking at details, like the building’s infrastructure and boiler, “to make sure there’s no surprises or hidden costs.”
“We just want to make sure that we’re going into it (with our) eyes wide open,” Burrell said. “We’re getting some prices from contractors as far as what additional costs might be incurred above the purchase price.”
It also wasn’t clear how much SONS would need to fundraise.
“We’re still figuring that out,” Essian said. “We’ve had architects go through there. We’re talking with the city. We want to know what’s going to be required going toward for any future tenants. But it’s a real question because we don’t have tenants until we own the building.”
Beyond potentially partnering with other entities as tenants to occupy some space in the old school, Burrell said they still looked forward to seeing how the property’s gymnasium, kitchen, and classrooms would fit in maintaining or growing SONS’ existing programs.
The group concentrates on a lot of vocational and trades outreach, as well as recreational athletics and college readiness programs. A new building also means they wouldn’t have to hop churches for programs like their summer dream camp, Burrell said.
And while they still own vacant property on Electric Avenue donated to them to build a new facility, Burrell said they aren’t entertaining alternatives for the southside site while focused on Harrison.
What park improvements could come to Harrison Pointe?
How the city approaches parks and recreation needs in Harrison Pointe depends on who you ask.
“It is my intention to take that playground, to make it a city park, to put new equipment in there, and really enhance it as a neighborhood park,” Port Huron City Manager James Freed said last week. He said he's expressed that interest to SONS and the district.
Meanwhile, Winzer was more cautious about Harrison, adding the neighborhood to the list of parks on her radar and slated for future improvements.
“I haven’t had a chance to know if there’s different (options), if there’s properties the city owns that I’m not aware of, (and) if that makes sense and SONS wants to partner with us,” she said. “But we’re going to look at the options because we think it’s important for kids to have a way to walk to innovative play spaces.”
But what could a revitalized park look like? Winzer said it depends on the park. She pointed to other park priorities citywide as an example. There was Pine Grove Park, which needs a new playscape, the park on 16th Street, where sports-themed improvements are already penciled with grant support, and then, Haynes, Sanborn, and Renaissance parks — each with improvements in progress or potentially on the horizon.
“(We try) making each space a little different,” Winzer said “… Also just having a wide variety for different ages to do, as well. As you know, playground equipment is not super cheap, so it’s trying to find the most you can within your budget. So, we’ll be looking … for input from the (Harrison) neighbors to see what age groups we have.”
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Neighbors push for park access amid Harrison school deal
