By Amanda Estes 

Staff Writer

For more than 15 years, the People’s Regional Opportunity Program (PROP) has offered a child care program for low-income families at the former Hutchins Elementary School on Mosher Street in South Portland. As of May 23, the program will be discontinued and shortly after the building will be vacated, leaving the city the option to sell the property.

In the coming months, the council will decide whether to find another tenant for the site or put the property up for sale, Gailey said. 

At a city council workshop on Monday, however, much of the discussion focused on the roughly $37,000 worth of playground equipment that PROP installed on the property three years ago. PROP has offered to donate the playground to the city, leaving the city council with the option of maintaining the playground as part of a small park or moving the equipment elsewhere.

The council largely favored accepting the playground and called for input from Ferry Village residents. Some councilors worried, if left alone, the playground could affect the value of the property, which is assessed at $327,400.

“If the park were not on the property that becomes a much more valuable property for the city,” Mayor James Soule said. 

Since 1992, PROP has made some $175,000 worth of improvements to the building and the site, according to figures provided by City Manager James Gailey. PROP Senior Vice-President of Operations Betsy Sawyer-Manter said the organization is vacating the building because changes in the neighborhood’s demographics have led to declining enrollments. There are currently 14 children enrolled. 

“In the past it’s really been the neighborhood that’s filled the program,” Sawyer-Manter said. “We’re down from two classrooms to one and we can’t even keep that classroom filled.”

Sawyer-Manter said PROP will continue to operate childcare and head start programs at its Redbank center.

Gailey said the playground, geared toward pre-school aged children, is popular within the neighborhood, as PROP never prohibited the community’s access to the equipment. 

“I see this as a valuable opportunity to create a little pocket park and to provide an asset to the Ferry Village neighborhood. I’ve heard it’s an asset and would be sorely missed if it’s moved.”

Gailey said South Portland Public Works and Parks and Recreation Director Dana Anderson favored accepting the playground and leaving it in its place rather than moving the equipment. Gailey said Anderson was concerned moving the equipment would void any existing warranty and the equipment could become stressed during the process.  

Some councilors, however, said if the city can find a need for the equipment somewhere else, they wouldn’t be opposed to moving the playground.

“I don’t think there are very many kids who use it,” Councilor Maxine Beecher said. “Once PROP is out of there, I think you’ll find it’s an area where kids will hang out.” 

Soule proposed moving the playground to the small park at the corner of High and Sawyer streets, which has a basketball hoop and is popular with teenagers, as a way to bring more adults and supervision to the area. Nearby School Street was also proposed as a possible site, but councilor Linda Boudreau said that park has its own set of problems including vandalism. Whether the playground is moved to High Street or School Street, there will likely be a conflict between the different age groups, she said. 

Councilor Tom Blake agreed “putting little kids [at High Street] doesn’t make sense.” He said there are 3,000 to 4,000 people within walking distance of the PROP playground, but many people don’t know it is available for the public to use. 

Ferry Village Neighborhood Conservation Association (F.V.N.C.A.) President David Jacobs said leaving the playground at its current location doesn’t make sense and he favored moving the equipment to the existing park on School Street. 

“Obviously the city is going to try and sell that building and that parcel and in order to get the best price if it has some kind of contingency that [the playground] stays there, they’re probably not going to get that,” Jacobs said. “[PROP is] there to kind of monitor that play area and if nobody’s at that building or at that site, it really won’t have any stewards to watch over it.”

Jacobs said the Sawyer Street site is on a busy corner and there is currently a lounge –  Evelyn’s Tavern – located across the street. He said there are currently parents who do not allow their children to go to the park.

F.V.N.C.A. received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for $15,000 to renovate the High Street park, Gailey said. Jacobs said, however, the group is currently at a “standstill” with those plans.

“The vision that we gave to the city and the committee was to turn it into an old fashioned city park with benches and landscaping and informational kiosks,” Jacobs said. “We’d like to reclaim that lot and make it more of a community center… however, the CDBG committee decided they didn’t want to lose the basketball court. We’ve been trying to work with the city manager and trying to figure out a way to make that work and the two things aren’t compatible. You can’t have blacktop and an existing play area and a place for people to congregate.”

Jacobs said the groups has put out a call to artists to help with a rendering of the proposed park, but so far has been unsuccessful in those efforts.

He said the group has also requested another meeting with the CDBG committee to better explain their concept and how the lot is currently being used, but that meeting has yet to be scheduled.