Lorain’s Oakwood Park is silent.
The sound of chainsaws no longer pierces the air.
The cutting down of hundreds of Oak trees brought to a grinding halt.
The city has spent nearly $50,000 dollars to cut down 100 trees, the plan calls for another 152 trees to be cut down.
The City administrators plan is to give the sprawling 70-acre park a major makeover with a nine million dollar federal grant.
Baseball, football, soccer fields, an amphitheater and more.
But, Tuesday night city council chose to stop the tree cutting.
“It looks like a nuclear wasteland,” said Joel Arredondo Council President.
Arredondo said the tree cutting was stopped after complaints from residents.
He’s also concerned city administrators haven’t shown council a concrete plan or can convince them the renovation project would start on time leaving neighbors looking at an empty park.
“It was basically a plan, a vision with no specifics,” Arredondo said.
Lorain Service Director Dan Given said there have been numerous public meetings about plans for the park, and council seemed to be on board.
He noted one council member even wrote a letter to city administrators supporting the plan.
Given also said it’s time to look to the future and create new memories at Oakwood Park.
Given is concerned stopping phase one of the tree clearings could jeopardize the federal grant.
There are a parks and recreation meeting scheduled for Monday, January 26 at 6:30 PM in Lorain Council Chambers.
Oakwood Park is one of the topics that will be discussed.
