Adam Huening
Greensburg Daily News
Greensburg —
In the first quarter of the first Greensburg Youth Football game ever played at North Park, quarterback Noah Schweinhart, 7, completed a long downfield march with a sneak over the goal line for the first touchdown.
No matter how long the first drive seemed, North Park itself had to traverse a much longer path from a state of disrepair to community gathering place.
Once the home of youth baseball games, it became defunct when teams moved to the new diamonds at the Youth Sports Complex on Park Road. As weeds grew on the pitchers' mounds and the park equipment became rusty, the park was almost lost as life continued around it. However, as Mayor Gary Herbert said before officially dedicating the park, it was a community treasure that officials felt should not be forgotten.
"Once a park is gone, you never get it back," Herbert said.
The Mayor offered a brief history of the park that rest in the heart of neighborhoods along the west side of town. The City of Greensburg gave the property to the Greensburg School Corporation in 1941. Over the years, it was the annual location for triumphs and defeats, moments etched forever in the minds of baseball playing youth that grew up in the area. When the sports complex was constructed, North Park became little more than a vacant lot with some old playground equipment.
In 2006, the park was given back to the city. Originally, Herbert explained, then Mayor Frank Manus had planned to build a water treatment facility at the north end. However, Herbert, who was the district's councilor at the time, polled the neighbors and found North Park was treasured among the residents.
When Herbert became Mayor, he said, he made it a point to see the park was used once more and new memories would be formed for the current youth and the generations to follow. Through work with the Greensburg Youth Football League, including Councilor Jamie Cain and the league's Becky Deiwert, the city and county joined forces to make dreams reality. Donations and fundraisers helped convert the baseball diamonds to a football field. The Decatur County Community Foundation offered a grant to provide new playground equipment and the county Parks Department worked to transform the area.
Years of effort came to a climax under the south goal post - the same end zone where Noah would score the first touchdown a little more than an hour later. With a snip of a ribbon, youth sports returned to North Park once again. Herbert hopes, along with many in the community, it never ends.
"It was a park when I was a kid, and I hope it's still a park when these kids have grandkids," Herbert said.
In the first game ever played Noah and his Greensburg Blue C League (4 to 7 year olds) team, coached by Chad Cordray defeated Greensburg Black C team, coached by Matt West, by a score of 24-6.
Deiwert said the first game ball was autographed by Noah and will remain displayed at the concession stand for years to come.
