MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Even on a gloomy day, a newly-developed green space is brightening the Mechanicsburg community.
“It’s been fabulous," said Nori Hoffman, the manager of the Messiah Lifeways Senior Center, which is located at the intersection of Portland Street and Railroad Avenue. The property is owned by the borough.
Outside the senior center, there used to be a sinkhole.
Thanks to a $110,000 grant from the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority Community Development Block Grant Program, the borough has changed that.
“[We] tore down the barbed wire, tore down the fencing, filled it up with dirt," explained Luke Arnold, the borough's environmental programs coordinator.
It's now a space that senior center members, and others in the community, can enjoy.
“My members are so excited, they’ve been coming out sitting at the picnic benches, enjoying the trees being planted," said Hoffman.
The spot also acts as a stormwater outfall, so a basin was created to collect water and allow it to go back into the ground.
“We wanted to maintain that so we weren’t adding any flooding in the borough," said Arnold.
The borough is already eyeing a second location to do the same thing.
It has received an $80,000 grant, also through the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority Community Development Block Grant Program, to transform the sinkhole that’s currently at the corner of E. Factory and N Walnut Streets.
“With that one, it’s going to be less about filling it because it’s a pretty major stormwater outfall," explained Arnold. "[It will be] more about creating safety barriers around it, enhancing the space so people can still enjoy the natural aspect of it.”
Both projects are part of an effort to remove blight across borough-owned properties.
“It’s removing an eyesore out of the community, it’s something people can be proud of," Arnold said.
“No wire fencing, the trash that was thrown in the pit hole and things, it opens up the whole community," added Hoffman.
The borough plans to continue to add more trees and birdhouses to the green space by the senior center. Officials hope to start construction at the second location in the spring.
