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Syracuse Parks Dept. at 100: Schiller Park Can Shape Stories for Future Generations

The Syracuse Parks Department is marking 100 years of operation, and WAER News has embarked on a series profiling just some of the city’s abundant green spaces.  This week, we head to the heart of the northside for a walk through Schiller Park.

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
Goethe and Schiller wait to greet those who climb 53 steps off Third Ave and Highland St.

For Paul Grella, it only made sense to be a founding member of the friends of Schiller Park in 2010.

"My house borders the park.  One of the things we wanted to do is beautify the park, make it an inviting place so more neighborhood communities feel comfortable coming into the park.  It's a destination spot, have more activities."

In a seven short years, the group has planted flowers, expanded the Debbie Bova memorial garden, and worked with youth to install birdhouses.  Faculty and students from Le Moyne College have organized clean up events.  But Grella says there’s a more sentimental reason behind the group:  Many members grew up near the 37 acre park.

"They told these really rich, amazing stories about how this park shaped their lives.  What they did in the park, the friends they made in the park, that coming of age story almost.  We made it our mission to create new stories.  We want to create new stories for future generations."

WAER's Scott Willis begins his tour:

"I'm walking up the 53 steps that lead from Highland St. and Third Ave. to the sculpture of Goethe and Schiller atop a tall pedestal, surrounded by a large iron fence."

The monument honors the German population that dominated the neighborhood for most of the 20th century.  Paul Grella says a visit to the park today shows how that’s changed…

"On a summer day, it's the cultural foundation of the north side.  You'll have refugee kids playing soccer in the lower field, you'll have kids playing tennis, kids using the pool."

The tour continues...

 "I'm following this brick pathway toward what appears to be the highest point in the park."

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
New trees have recently been planted at Roundtop.

Paul Grella says the Roundtop offers beautiful vistas...

"These amazing oak trees that surround the Roundtop, and how you can overlook the entire city... you can see almost to Fulton, and all the way to the Valley."   

Scott arrives at Roundtop.

"There's not too much up here at Roundtop.  It's an open, grassy, peaceful space, surrounded by large trees.  You'll see an occasional jogger or dog walker pass through.  You hear birds chirping in the background."

But the park with its many secluded areas does face its challenges.  A dog walker who didn’t want to be recorded says he fills a small bag with litter almost every day, including empty drug baggies and used needles.  He also wishes the city took better care of it.  Take a walk along the park's back roads, and it almost looks abandoned with piles of leaves, grass and weeds growing through the cracks, and overgrown brush along the shoulders.  Paul Grella with the friends group says it’s a constant effort for volunteers and the city.

"Maintenance and beautification of a park is a major undertaking.  You're always fighting back invasive species, you're fighting back weeds, all sorts of animal damage."

In the future, Grella says they’d like to remove the bigger brush, perhaps expose more of the Roundtop, and maybe add a dog park or a community garden.  

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
One of the back roads of Schiller Park. Most are closed to car traffic.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.