Millvale’s newest park is open, but not finished.
After years of work, residents of Millvale and the Shaler Area community celebrated the grand opening of Rainbow Raccoon Park on April 26.
It’s located at an entry to Millvale, at the end of the Route 28 South exit into the borough, on East Ohio Street between Evergreen Avenue and Meade Street.
The quarter-acre lot was once a junkyard at the front door of Millvale, full of abandoned vehicles, barbed wire fencing, garbage and debris, said Brian Wolovich, president of the Millvale Community Development Corp., which owns the property.
Now, there is a basketball court, bike track, picnic area, rain gardens and barrels, and a free little library. Solar panels on a shed provide power for small events and charging the lawn mower and weed whacker used for maintenance of the lot, Wolovich said.
“This has been a labor of love and many hands,” he said.
Shaler Area High School students have been involved in its development. That included helping to name it — the raccoon being a scrappy and smart survivor and a rainbow theme to make the space stand out and show that it welcomes everyone.
The school’s Sustainability Club collected plastic bottle caps that were melted down into a plastic lumber material to make two benches for the park.
A 12.5-foot-tall sculpture of the park’s namesake couldn’t be ready for the opening, but it is expected to arrive this summer, Wolovich said. A date was not immediately available.
Other planned amenities and features include playground equipment, a stage and a sensory play area along with better fencing and landscaping, but those will take time for designing, pricing and fundraising.
“We can’t move quickly. We don’t sit on a bunch of funding,” Wolovich said. “It’s getting harder to get money for community projects. We’re not in a place where the giving is at an all-time high. It’s getting more competitive. It is funding dependent. That being said, we’re trying.”
The Grable and Henry L. Hillman foundations have supported the park’s development to date, Wolovich said.
As efforts to further develop the park continue, Wolovich said they already have a beautiful space where kids and adults can play and get moving.
“Come on down, enjoy yourself and bring a friend,” he said. “Make it what you want it to be.”
