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Summer park beautification project expected to serve as model for other communities.
Marywood University student Melissa Vitale of Scranton paints a mural on a wall at Weston Field as part of a city beautification project.
File photo
Scranton City’s pool mural project is being eyed by the state as a model for other cities.
Mark Dougher, director of parks and recreations for the City of Scranton, said the nearly complete summer program was so successful it is being considered by the state for a pilot project.
So far murals have been competed at city pools including those located at McDade Park, off Keyser Avenue; Nay Aug Park, Arthur Avenue and Mulberry Street; Weston Field, 982 Providence Road; Weston Park, Spring Street and Hollister Avenue; Novembrino, 10th Avenue; and Penn Ridge Swim Complex, Capouse Avenue.
The last mural project for this year will take place from Aug. 15 through Aug. 22 at Connell Park, 800 Gibbons St.
All of the murals completed this summer have been made possible through state grants totaling $20,000 with the help of local college art majors, Dougher said. City residents as well as residents of neighboring communities and some out-of-state visitors have also assisted the project, he added.
One volunteer from New York, Dougher said, visits the area every summer and heard about the project and wanted to help out.
Dougher encourages anybody to help paint, especially with a current project at Connell Park. People can sign in at the site and simply start painting.
Dougher said he has been pleased with the turnout and project support, and that this should serve as a sense of community pride.
“It gives people pride in what’s done,” Dougher said. “They can look and say, ‘Hey, I painted that.’”
He also hopes the project will help discourage graffiti since the artwork will already be prominent.
“Hey, don’t do that to my mural,” Dougher said he hopes children will tell their friends to discourage defacing of the properties.
The project has helped keep order at the parks, he added. “Anytime we were doing a mural, there were less problems…because the children were more occupied (with painting),” he said.
The program caught the attention of the Lackawanna County Children and Youth Services, which is providing $34,000 in grant money to study the program and assist with improvements. The organization plans to develop a slideshow presentation of the city project to encourage other communities in the state to implement their own.
City officials plan to continue the program next year, Dougher said.
And depending on the state budget, Dougher said many other community interactive beautification projects are hopeful to be scheduled in the near future.