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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 17, 2025 Park Board MinutesSouth Bend Board of Park Commissioners Regular Meeting  February 17, 2025  Due to an outage in audio recording during this meeting, there is a lapse in transcript translation, please be advised the recording of these minutes does not fully reflect the events in this meeting in its entirety. The Board of Park Commissioners of the City of South Bend, Indiana met on Monday, February 17, 2025, at Howard Park Event Center, 219 S. St. Louis Blvd and virtually on Microsoft Teams for its regular meeting.  Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting were duly given as required by law. The public was provided with a link to join the virtual meeting.   Park Board members present were as follows:  Mr. Mark Neal, President   Ms. Consuella Hopkins, Vice President Mr. Sam Centellas VPA staff members present: Jordan Gathers, Executive Director; Anastasia Smith-Davis, Executive Assistant; John Martinez, Chief of Park Operations (virtual); Amy Roush, Director of Development; Olivia Sanchez, Special Events Manager; Cynthia Taylor, Director of Community Programming; Macey Hanna, Director of Recreational Experience; and Evelyn Mitchell, Superintendent III. Other city representatives present: Michael Schmidt, Assistant City Attorney. Call to Order  Mark Neal called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting held on January 21, 2025. Motion to approve the meeting minutes of January 21, by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. Consent Agenda Motion to approve the consent agenda of February 17, by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. Interviewing of Interested Residents No residents participated at this time. Use of Parks- New Events Partners in Opportunities event. Amy Roush informs Commissioners that this new event is a collaboration between VPA and the Logan Center. There will be food, music, and activities, the event is open to the public but geared towards Logan center kids and their families. Motion to approve the Partners in Opportunities event by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll call vote 3-0. New Business ESBSA Project Approval- Eastside Baseball Softball Association President, Mark Neal welcomes ESBSA to the discussion. Greg Kil of Kil Architecture, lead planner and lead design planner of the Eastside Baseball Softball Association. Greg mentions the associations board is also present and willing to answer any questions presented. After hosting a community engagement meeting, open to the public, the association gained clarity regarding the needs of the community. He continues to state that Eastside’s goal is to get support from the Park Board and move to obtain a variance and special use exemption for the indoor practice facility and those associated variances between those in the lot lines. Attorney, Michael Schmidt provides clarity on the action that the Commissioners are being asked to take. Commissioners are being asked to co-sign the application for the Board of Zoning to approve the variance on the property that the Parks Board co-owns. President, Mark Neal asks the other Commissioners if they have any questions. Neither Commissioner had questions. Greg Kil, joined by Angela Smith and Coby Deal hold up a visual of the plans for the park. Greg Kil gives a detailed presentation on what will be on the property and the plans for the indoor space, with specific emphasis on the area the variance application covers. Coby gives specifics to the work that will be done to the fields from the diamonds to the dugout. President, Mark Neal questions the group about funding efforts for this project. Coby confirms that through their work with an outside contractor, ESBSA is looking at a $15-20 million dollar project. All work will be set in phases until complete. Michael Harding shares that over the last few years ESBSA has secured over 25 funding resources ranging from grants and a number of local agencies that will give to the project. Michael goes on to speak on the importance of this project and how it will dramatically serve those in the underserved communities. He mentions there is a great dilemma that is holding fundraising back- most people want to see the finished product before giving funds. Michael shares a long history of connection he personally has to the park and how it has been a way from him to connect with young people in the neighborhood for over 20 years. The conversation continues with Coby joining Michael and sharing details about the convertible fields. Attorney, Michael Schmidt clarifies the action of the Park Board, which is a motion to approve the Board of Park Commissioners co-signing the board of zoning application. President Mark Neal calls for a motion. Motion to approve co-signing of the board of zoning application by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll-call vote 3-0. Motion to approve COSB RDC & VPA Agreement by Sam Centellas, supported by Consuella Hopkins, motion carried. Roll-call vote 3-0. Department Report by Director Cynthia Taylor Cynthia Taylor, Director of Community Programming, begins her presentation with a recap of last year. Cynthia shares the focus of her division for the year is “recreate, recharge, and reunite families in the park”. Through diverse and creative workshops and activities community programming was able to activate multiple parks such as Meusel Grove, O’Brien, Pulaski, Coquillard, Howard Park, Boehm, LaSalle, and Sinclair Park. Along with King at Kennedy and All-Star summer camps. One of the newest programs, Youth Employment, saw a great amount of engagement through the many programming efforts to get youth employed within the community. Cynthia shares the many activities youth had an opportunity to engage in like fishing, library tours, job training and more. From the success of two previous students, Cynthia shares the success stories of Jamala Lockhart, a Kentucky State student who is also the recipient of the MLK Senior’s Men’s club scholarship and Paris Peyton, a Indiana University Bloomington student who also interns for ABC57. Cynthia continues with updates on programming at sites like Pinhook, that are activated by events like Nature Cat ( in partnership with WNIT), Gone Fishing (an event that seen over 35 kids and 15 adults participated in), Treats on the Trial (with over 1300 participants), and over 60+ facility rentals. She mentions other special events that community programs assist with like Fusion Fest, where the team served anywhere from 175-200 kids per hour over two days. The team provided arts and crafts with a safari theme to all those that engaged over the two days. Continuing on to mention community programming was the recipient of a five thousand dollar check from the local grocery store, Meijers. Funds were used towards the Christmas on Washington event where many families in the surrounding area were gifted with toys for Christmas. Cynthia mentions a big part of her team’s focus is development. Her along with other team members have attended different trainings like NRPA conference in Atlanta, the IPRA in French Lick Indiana, and the Kids Count conference in Indianapolis. She goes on to list the different experiences the team provides for the students in their programs like annual HBCU tours, wrecking in the park tours, and after school programming. Cynthia shares a few more updates on VPA vans, Senior trips, partnerships and donations made to programming efforts. Vice President, Consuella follows up with two questions. What is the need for the programming team to accept more students? Cynthia shares MLK Dream Center will be online this summer, allowing more students to be accepted into the King Summer Camp, along with O’Brien center having two camps ran out of the same space this summer as well. One camp will be managed by the YMCA and the other camp will be hosted by VPA. Camps will also be held at the Charles Black Center. She is confident that this year, more youth in the community will be able to take advantage of the summer camps and free lunch programs offered. How will the vans be used in programming efforts with students? Cynthia answers, VPA vans will be utilized to help pick up and drop students off this summer as they do in the school year. They have organization pick up and drop off locations with more added for the summer. The hope is to bring on more vans to facilitate more transportation for youth. Business by Executive Director Jordan Gathers Jordan begins by thanking Cynthia Taylor, Director of Community Programming for her leadership and providing engaging activities on all corners and all sides of town. all who are in attendance and continue with the following updates. Invites everyone to mark their calendars for the City of South Bend’s Black History Month Celebration, Thursday, February 20th at the Century Center. Exciting new program, Teens Got Talent at Howard Park. Showcasing the next generation of stars singing, dancing, and engaging teens in our community. Four Winds Field steel signing ceremony on February 26th from 10am-12pm Mom Son dances on March 4, at the Century Center. Trolls theme, excited to see the success of the event. Great success at the Daddy Daughter dance, seeing over 1500 in attendance. Mark your calendars for March 6th for the Raclin Murphy steel signing ceremony at the Morris Performing Arts Center. The community has a chance to put their name on a beam and be part of a historic expansion as a new 20,000 square foot building is on the way. Learn to Skate registration opens, although it is cold, the warm weather will be here shortly. Lessons will take place at Riley high school. Dream Center is coming alive. Hoping for an opening date in April, details will be shared closer to date. I am excited to share the new 40,000 square foot facility with the community. Projects: Byers and Kennedy are open for bids, while Potawatomi will begin construction in phases. Seitz Park is in the final stretch and excited for the park to open later in the year. Celebrating Black History Month President Mark Neal questions the progression of Four Winds Field. Executive Director follows up with stating Four Winds Field is progressing well, restating the steel signing ceremony is February 26th and hopes the community can come out. He shares the modifications done to the park will contribute to fan and visitor experience by adding a new second deck and event space. Jordan concludes his updates. Adjournment No other questions or comments from the Park Commissioners, meeting adjourned at 6:14 pm by President Mark Neal.    The next meeting scheduled will be held Monday, April 21, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. at Howard Park Event Center and virtually. Respectfully Submitted,   Anastasia Smith-Davis