The City of Butler is selling a piece of property that used to be the Southside Playground.
At their Tuesday meeting Council voted to finalize an agreement with Berean Bible Chapel to purchase the property for $50,000 along with an arrangement to make ten annual payments of $2,500 to the city.
Director of Parks, Recreation, and Public Property Councilman Jeff Smith explains how that money will be used to benefit local residents.
“It’s going to provide funding that we’re going to use as a matching grant for Father Marinaro park next year,” Smith said. “And hopefully we’ll be able to leverage this into $100,000 plus toward a new playground and other improvements at the park.”
The annual revenue stream will allow for maintenance of Father Marinaro Park for years to come.
According to Pastor Andrew Pepe of Berean Bible Chapel, his group is looking forward to connecting with the community.
“We are very community oriented. We have a community center there and to help the children grow up in the area,” Pepe said. “Our goal is to keep the park going, keep a good place for kids to play, and also a place for us to minister to them. So it looks like going to be a great partnership all the way around.”
The midget football league does use that area for some practices in the fall but their activities will be moved to Father Marinaro Park.
