Here are pictures from Sunday 6-1-2014. this shows the grass which still cannot be mowed because the ground is too wet,

the fences that have been in disrepair for a very long time,

The dangerous, ankle breaking, basketball court,

the untended weed trees that have grown all around the borders, so much so that they are growing up and over this light post

Swings and playground that have inadequate wood chips underneath,

and smooshy baseball field that actually has cat tails growing next to it.

The Cat Tails

Downed tree, I have more but I think you get the picture

With three young children under 8 it would be wonderful to use our neighborhood park. However the poor conditions: uncut grass, inadequate drainage, vandalized equipment, and drug paraphernalia on the ground prevent us from doing so and... it's difficult to explain to the kiddos why they can't play at the park.

I also took some pictures of the problems at Neider Park ... Abandoned volleyball court overgrown with no net, overgrown baseball field, cracked and damaged basketball court, no wood chips or anything under playground equipment or swings, downed trees and broken fences, fences overgrown with brush and vines, no benches where they used to be, no lights working on light poles, overgrown grass, poor drainage.

More pictures ...

Baseball field

Downed tree, broken frence.

The city is currently in the process of developing a Parks Master Plan so that we can systematically begin addressing issues such as the many at Neider Park. This is being done because since the inception of the Office of Neighborhood Initiatives in 2010, and the development of active neighborhood groups advocating for improvements in their neighborhoods all over the city, many shortcomings in our city parks and playgrounds have come to light. Rather than addressing them in a piecemeal manner, it was decided that we needed to come up with a comprehensive plan.
Hopefully, in the 2015 city budget, funds will be allocated to begin addressing all of them. I would suspect that the plan will be expensive and may take several years to complete, unless some grant funding becomes available.
In any case, I agree that Neider Park has been neglected and that it should be given some priority once the plan has been presented. It was once a great place for kids to play in the summer months, and even served as an ice rink in the winter. I would encourage you to keep advocating for your neighborhood.

Tony DiCostanzo
Councilor At-Large

Thanks Tony. The thing about the situation at Nieder Park that bugs me the most is that the excuse from the city has been that they couldn't do stuff there for several years like they have at other playgrounds because of the drainage problem, but they never did anything about the drainage problem and the money that would have paid for the basketball court etc went who knows where. And now the argument, as you say in your comment, is that since other parks have complained about other problems we are being lumped in with them as though they just discovered the problems at Nieder. There's no way the conditions elsewhere are as bad as Nieder yet we are expected to sit patiently for at least another year even though it's been obvious for many years that the drainage needs to be fixed. So you say there will be a master plan finished sometime next year. It will say the Nieder drainage needs to be fixed and then it will take at least another year to find the money and do the work. So that puts us into the summer of at least 2016. You're the third city councilman who has sent me a similar message expressing sympathy for our plight, but nothing has changed. Do you folks have any power to do anything? We're gettin' the shaft. Just admit it.

Here's another pictures comparing the parks ...

I can't answer for past councils or councilors. This council has been seated for 30 months now and up until last month when Clr. Camera brought up the issues at Neiders, I don't believe anyone had brought them up to this council, at least that I know of. It is extremely difficult to reallocate money to any project, especially a park project, halfway through the budget year. There just isn't that kind of wiggle room.

We will be starting our 2015 budget discussions within the next couple of months and maybe something can be done for Neiders in 2015. While I would never promise anyone that an action will take place, or that money will be spent on a certain project, I can promise that Neiders will be discussed as part of the budget process and try to find out why it has been neglected for so long.

Tony

Thanks again for your attention to this Tony. You're right. Many people on the council (but not all) are fairly new to the job, but lots of city employees, including the city manager, have been on the job for many years.

Still nothing done. We continue to be told they're working on it. My wife was over there recently picking up trash. I wonder if anything will ever get fixed.

In case any city officials (elected or otherwise) monitor these comments, it might be a good idea to give us an update on what is going on with Neider Park. Is there any news? What is the status of your master plan? Can you tell us anything useful?

Ben--per several of our offline conversations, the Master Plan is still a work in progress. We have engaged a team to evaluate the engineering options to see what can be done in the interim to address drainage concerns at the site. Stay tuned.

I live within walking distance to Nieder Park, but have been driving my children to nicer playgrounds this summer to play. I will admit that we have not even attempted going to Nieder yet this year. I'm guessing that no huge improvements have been made.
I read in the newspaper that improvements to Nieder Park are being included in the upcoming budget. My question is, how do we, as the parents of the children playing there, make our suggestions for improvements heard?

There is a public hearing on the budget on Oct. 7th. You can comment at that time on anything in the budget. In fact, you can comment on anything you'd like to at any regular city council meeting under Public Comment.
You can also call, email, or stop at the GNRC on Exchange St, anytime prior to Oct. 7th, to pass along your suggestions. You can also directly contact your city councilors. Their email addresses and phone #s are listed on the city website.