The city of Elkhart is reinvigorating a park on a site that’s played an important role in the city’s African-American history.
Ullery Park was established in 1997 after the closure there of Ullery School, formerly called South Side School.
On Tuesday the city held a groundbreaking for a $750,000 overhaul of the park. Elkhart Parks Superintendent Jamison Czarnecki described why the city chose Ullery.
Czarnecki minorities :15 … “We are looking at this improvement process as an opportunity to re-engage citizens who have felt left out of a lot of things in the city.”
The upgrades will include a splash pad, walking paths, a shelter, restrooms, and new lighting and landscaping.
Czarnecki says the neighborhood is excited and that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Czarnecki met them :18 … “We met and walked and talked with several people in the neighborhood. We went to 200 homes and we did bilingual representation because a third of that neighborhood is Hispanic, and so I think we did the work to try and get the understanding, and that’s what is exciting people, because we’ve met them with what they’ve wanted to see.”
