The City of Williamsport is undergoing a renaissance of its parks, a tangible transformation for the better.
Improvements that have happened and are in design and construction stages are expected to provide more places to recreate, healthier and more options for exercise and just more fun.
These are efforts undertaken by Mayor Derek Slaughter and his administrative team, with coordination from the City Council and continued communication with various state and federal personnel, agencies and foundations along with purposeful investment of funds available, much of it not draining the city’s general fund.
In the near future, there will be more things to do, learn and try — but also improvements to parks that give the neighborhoods and residents living in them who surround the parks a true sense of pride.
“Obviously over the last few years we’ve made tremendous progress with our parks,” said Mayor Derek Slaughter in an exclusive interview.
Joined by the city administrative team, the city officials updated the Sun-Gazette on dozens of projects across the city. The questions-and-answers session, which lasted about 45 minutes, will be in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette in a series of stories, and on the Sun-Gazette Facebook and Youtube sites.
The plethora of improvements that have occurred or are in the design and planning stages include:
• A pump track fit for beginners and mored advanced riders at Shaw Place Park with an accompanying pilot program
• A Shaw Place Park bike lane connecting to Brandon Park and Millers Run Trail in Loyalsock Township, all of it also connecting bicyclists and pedestrians more safely through the city, to other parks, and to the Susquehanna Riverwalk.
• Addition of pickleball courts at Elm and Newberry parks.
• More accessible bathrooms, added sidewalks and walking paths and functioning cameras in the parks.
• Way’s Garden improvements, including fencing, concrete and centerpiece water fountain.
• An outdoor fitness pad for free exercise at Memorial Park.
• Restored basketball and tennis courts in parks across the city.
• A plan to ensure each city neighborhood is just a 10-minute walk or short ride from a community park.
• Improved equipment, functional, safe and inclusive to all users.
Overall, strategically implementing plans to improve the parks, recreation and greenspace that provides what taxpayers deserve, visitors will remember and will assist with the city and region’s economic outlook and vitality of the various businesses near or close to parks as many visiting parks also want to shop, dine or stay overnight at the hotels.
“It was a priority coming in and we did a survey with the residents and we asked them what was important to them,” Slaughter said at the outset of the interview. “Public safety and parks were hand-in-hand.”
“We’ve seen over the last few years upgrades in all our city parks across the board and continuing with this spring and summer,” he said.
Joining Slaughter for the interview were Bill Scott, city engineer and Valerie Fessler, director of Community and Economic Development. Scott Williams, deputy director of Community and Economic Development and city planner, and Melanie Shutt, city Grants Administrator also were in the room but listened rather than contributing in this discussion.
Pump Track
One of the most anticipated of projects, with plenty of feedback from the community, has been the design and, envisioned spring 2026 construction of the – grant-supported and financially contributed – to pump track facility, a major component of what is being called the Williamsport Bike Park at Shaw Place Park, which already had a splash pad water feature installed, which is welcome and enjoyed during these hot days of summer, and upgrades to the basketball courts and tennis courts.
The city recently had a final public meeting on the pump track design held at the Rivervalley YMCA.
“It is going to design now,” Slaughter said. “We agreed on a final design. They’re working on that as we speak,” he said.
Many of the bicycle enthusiasts in Greater Williamsport have helped guide the designer to bring the finishing touches to the bike park.
It is known as a pump track, because the bicyclists, such as those using their BMX and mountain bikes, will pump the pedals and use the force of gravity to complete the tracks.
The design consists of two courses: A paved (asphalt) track, in which the operator can begin on a starter track area and then move to encounter objects, dips, and a wall, and an off-track circuit that would mimic what mountain bikers would experience on a trail.
Along with this pump track is a proposed pilot program to add a bike lane loop around the park, and connect via Lincoln Street to Brandon Park, Scott said.
To the east, there is a proposal to have the bike lane hook into Millers Run trail in Loyalsock Township, with the emphasis on linking riders to the Susquehanna Riverwalk. The township is having a pedestrian/bike bridge, under design, as a strategy to get bicyclists and pedestrians safely across busy Third Street.
“We are working with Loyalsock Township,” Slaughter said. “Obviously, it’s not like people stop at the city line,” he said, citing the example of people going from Bruce Henry Park in the township to Shaw Place Park, the city wanted to make sure they could travel safely on bikes or walking.
“This ties into the riverwalk,” Scott said. “We want to talk about going down Basin Street to the riverwalk extension,” he said.
It is another project, part of it was earmarked, and the city received proposals for Old City redevelopment. “We just received (five) proposals for the Old City request for proposals (RFP).,” Scott said.
The RFP includes Willow Street, redo, a restoration of the small street running parallel between Third and Fourth streets and east-west from Basin to Market streets. It is in design right now and might see construction started this year, Scott said. There will be new lights in Old City.
“Go right down Basin Street … and thanks to (Congressman Meuser) U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Dallas, and the city’s federal delegation for their support and congressional-directed spending that earmarked getting us the money to be able to do this work,” Slaughter said.
“It’s all exciting but getting that riverwalk extension, right down Basin Street so people can safely get up and onto the riverwalk, through that intersection there at Basin, make that a much safer intersection, and then a crossing up onto the riverwalk,” he said.
All-inclusive park
Upgrades also are happening at Young’s Woods Park, Fessler said.
“With the addition of our grants administrator (Shutt) we’ve been able to be very creative with using grants and matching grants creatively,” she said.
The city has three grants that will allow the city to do over $800,000 worth of upgrades to Young’s Woods Park. The park will be an all-inclusive park, Fessler said.
The city is working with a local foundation that has a similar mission and they have been a great sponsor of that project, she added.
The park will primarily be focused on allowing individuals with physical disabilities to participate, just as they could in any other park throughout the city. There will be specific park equipment that will be compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and they can participate and access it. There will be a lot of ADA upgrades such as walking paths, benches, picnic tables – all those things will be ADA compatible.
“And working closely with the Special Olympics of Lycoming County,” Slaughter added.
Every park across the city is receiving some sort of upgrade and we are grateful to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), to the foundation that Fessler referred to helping out with Young’s Woods Park, and to the Special Olympics of Lycoming County.
“Once it is completed it is going to get used heavily, and I think people will be really surprised by the improvements we are making, and happy,” Slaughter said.
At Brandon Park, which is considered the largest urban oasis, the 43-acre park has become a destination for those walking, jogging, walking their dog(s), playing frisbee, watching baseball and softball teams, practicing their tennis swings and listening to performances at the restored bandshell, which has accessible bathrooms, proper ventilation, a repaired stage and brick front.
Lycoming College has built its baseball field. There are softball and Little League fields – all restored. To make sure the Lycoming College Warriors and fans get to the new Warriors complex and the Little League fields, there is a proposal to add a pedestrian crosswalk at Washington Boulevard and Elizabeth Street, similar to one in downtown Montoursville on Broad Street, Scott said.
The park bandshell was upgraded with new bathrooms, ventilation, brick – all fixed up.
Way’s Garden, West Fourth and Maynard street, also has seen improvements.
“I give our Way’s Garden Commission a lot of credit as well,” Slaughter said. “All new fencing, new concrete work that looks great.”
“They do a great job,” Slaughter said of the Commission. The park features beautiful garden beds of flowers and plants with signs identifying the species that are tended to by the commission and volunteers, benches, a pergola and a centerpiece working fountain.
For those seeking a bit of healthy outdoor exercise, that is free – Memorial Park is the right spot to find the outdoor fitness pad – which is close to the children’s playground, between it and the pickleball and basketball courts.
A few years ago the city put in the pickleball courts and restored basketball play in Memorial Park with upgraded hoops and the basketball court.
“We have new stuff coming to Elm Park, including tennis courts, pickleball courts, new accessible bathrooms,” Slaughter said. The six tennis courts are being converted in a dual- purposed project of pickleball courts. Elm Park construction will begin soon with the pickleball and tennis courts getting done first. The plan is to convert the six tennis courts, removing three of them and making six pickleball courts while still having tennis available. There will be a large bathroom, accessible parking, and sidewalks. Residents could see the work getting done in that park in July and August, Scott said.
Newberry Park, too, will see plenty of upgrades – with a planned soccer field conversion, a walking path around the park perimeter, two pickleball courts, additional parking spaces, with accessible spaces, and a one-person bathroom.
The plan indicates two pickleball courts, a paved walking trail, a soccer field, and a single-person restroom at Newberry Park.
“We are trying to bring soccer back into the city,” Slaughter said. He noted a lot of the soccer fields are outside of the city and that is a barrier for some because of the distance and transportation requirements.
“So, we have been working with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) on getting games in Newberry Park,” he said. The access and walkability factors are then expected to weigh in on the equation so more kids can take advantage of playing soccer.
Another project that will absolutely benefit the city, the county and the region and have positive economic revenue for the entire area is one being planned for introduction by the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce and is focused on baseball and softball, Slaughter said. But he chose to not divulge more as the chamber gets prepared for a formal announcement, perhaps as soon as July.
“It’s always about quality of life, so when families move here and the ones who live here – a lot of times they ask about ‘What are the parks and how are the parks, what do they look like, what is there to do?’” Slaughter said.
He smiled.
“For us to be able to bring those parks back to life, add some new stuff and see people across the board utilizing them is really, really exciting and that was our goal.”
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