Kearsley Park topic at East Side meeting

Kay Kelly, Kearsley Park project director, talked about the history, status and future plans for the 57-acre park studded with hardwood forests, wide meadows and picturesque Gilkey Creek meandering through its borders at the East Side Business meeting Feb 1.

"The park was developed in 1917," Kelly said. "The property was given to the city by J. Dallas Dort, one of the founders of General Motors."

According to Kelly, Dort's desire was not only to build factories, but communities with homes and schools surrounded by parks.

"Warren H. Manning, who developed the first landscape architect program at Cornell University, designed the park.

In 1925, Kearsley Park was the only park with a swimming pool and pool house — now the Genevieve Donnelly Pavilion. Events at the park included archery, horseback riding, baseball and a grand bonfire of Christmas trees 12 nights after Christmas.

That was during Flint's heyday. Today, all the 62 parks are struggling to be maintained with a one-man department headed by Pat Gerace and a group of volunteers.

The park got its name from a former mayor of Detroit, Jonathan Kearsley who was also registrar of deeds for the city. He named the street where the park is located, Kearsley Boulevard. Later, the park took on the name.

When the city lost its manufacturing base, jobs and much of its population, Kearsley Park fell into disrepair. The city had no money to mow the park. Drug dealers and prostitutes were frequent visitors. Safety became an issue.

"If it weren't for many of the Kearsley Park neighbors in this room we would have lost the park," Kelly said, pointing out several members, including Helen Chazik and Dale Scanlon, who worked with others securing grants to clean up the park and expand it.

Mott Community College saw the potential of adding a baseball field to the park for their players. It built one with the help of a $125,000 grant.

Later a playground was added near the pavilion so families could enjoy gathering at the pavilion with their children nearby.

Another grant provided for a bicycle trail crossing the park and linking up with the Flint River Trail. A soccer field was added. With the help of a Home Depot grant, a handicapped ramp was built at the pavillon that provides people with access to the park's trails.

Kelly came on the scene in 2004 as project coordinator, a position funded by a Ruth Mott Foundation grant. A former events coordinator for Hurley Hospital, Kelly brought her love of the arts and theater to the park, holding Shakespeare in the park and other events that have revitalized the area.

"We fliered the neighborhood when we began the children's theater," Kelly said. "Now we're taking the theater to children all over the city and to county parks," Kelly said.

Last year, the Shakespeare opening night gala raised $10,000, which was used to improve the park. Another grant last year for stopping erosion on the banks of Gilkey Creek won a Department of Environmental Quality Award.

For the past few years, the Kearsley pavilion has been available for weddings and family reunions for a fee. Kelly was uncertain if that rental would continue due to funding concerns.

"Thank God for people in the city who want to help our park systems. Through the Park Tenders volunteer program organized by Keep Genesee County Beautiful, the city has been able to maintain their park systems and keep the grass mowed," Kelley said.