BALTIMORE — $625,000 is the amount of money the Department of Recreation and Parks can use for improving the conditions at Leon Day Park.
Taurus Barksdale says that is not enough money for all of the changes to happen.
“It's due to issues year after year after year, that has piled up, so that's why it seems to be so much, but its really not a lot. But you know, if we can get something, it's better than nothing," said Barksdale, Charm City Buccaneers coach.
Neighbors say they have been asking for larger maintenance and repairs to happen at the park for years, but nothing ever happens.
“Having been at the park ,done walk-throughs at the park, been to previous meetings, these are things that have been identified and talked about for some time, so again, none of that was a surprise. Now its really about the implementation," said Councilman John Bullock
On Tuesday night, the Department of Recreation and Parks met with the community to map out where the money is needed most.
READ MORE: 'Do your part': Neighbors continue to ask city to maintain Leon Day Park
The main priority is getting the bathrooms operational.
Other major projects include fixing the fencing, replacing and installing new bleachers for the baseball and football fields, preventing flooding on the baseball field, and even installing security cameras.
“There has been times where this facility has not been invested into but this dialogue is important so that we have clear direction on where we're going when it comes to this facility," said Reginald Moore, Director of BCRP.
During the meeting, they were able to identify which projects were most important but also what things were supposed to already be taken care of by the maintenance department.
“I think it was a great dialogue, a good step in the right direction. Hopefully, it's just not talk; hopefully we will see some action now, but I feel really great about today’s meeting," said Barksdale.
The director of public works says it was important for him to make sure the people understand that projects like these require a lot of funding and take a lot of time if they want things done right.
“I think tonight was important not only for us to understand not only where the money came from the half a million dollars from the state, another 125,000 from the city, but then what is the process of how we spend the money?" said Moore.
He also says he wants people to speak out, just like this community did, when they want change.
“I also want to ask the community to continue to hold us accountable, making sure that we commit to things and that we deliver," said Moore.
Recreation and Parks is now planning to find out how much each project will cost and begin working on each project.
They plan to follow up with the community by the second week of December with concrete plans.
BCRP also wants to encourage people, if they have any issues with parks or other facilities in their neighborhood, to fill out theBCRP playbooksurvey on their website so they can know what changes they need to push for in their ten-year plan investing in facilities.
