STEUBENVILLE — A non-profit wants to spend millions to turn the North End Park into an all-inclusive “miracle field” serving people with special needs as well as children and adults with no physical limitations, but not everyone is happy about it.

Royal Mayo, a former president of the Steubenville NAACP, calls it “gentrification,” even though the improved park would be open to anyone in the community.

“I think the notion that you would come into a community and renovate a field without the people who already live there being the primary beneficiaries of whatever improvement you make is insane,” Mayo said. “Maybe the secondary beneficiary could be somebody else, but the primary beneficiary should be the people already there.”

But the group that wants to build it, Urban Frontier Organization, says it wants everybody to benefit, and that includes children living in the downtown area.

“That is the reason why the North End Park was our first choice,” Urban Frontier Executive Director Thom Way said. “There’s no reason that an impoverished area should be excluded from development that could benefit everyone. Gentrification is moving people out — we’re trying to invite them in.”

Way figures it will cost $1.6 million or more to transform the field, beginning with a poured-in-place rubber surface that provides a level, safer playing field for all users, including those with special needs. Playground equipment would be replaced, and there’d be more of it — including a series of interactive playground equipment, along with a new entrance and parking area.

Because of the rubber surface, girls softball teams currently using the field would have to play elsewhere. Tee ball would be expanded to a full spring and fall season, instead of the handful of games the league was able to get in this year, and they’d also add a new program, miracle league baseball

And while Urban Frontier would handle the upkeep, the park would still be owned by the city.

Way bristles at suggestions it would be a “special needs” park, pointing out his organization wants the project “to move beyond ADA guidelines to be an inclusive, engaging space for people of all ages and abilities.”

“Currently, under the financial constraints the parks & recreation department has there’s little to no room in the budget to make improvements at all the parks,” Way said. “Our approach was to partner with the department to create something that’s accessible for people of all ages and abilities. This is not an exclusive park for individuals with disabilities; it is an inclusive park for everybody.”

When he unveiled the plan at August’s park board meeting, Way had said they’ve already lined up partnerships and grants to cover much of the expense and figured it won’t be hard to get the rest. While the rec board gave him the green light to present his ideas to council for its approval, that hasn’t happened yet.

Way said the North End Park was Urban Frontier’s first choice, adding, “there’s no reason that an impoverished area should be excluded from development that could benefit everybody.”

Mayo, though, questions why Urban Frontier never considered putting the park at Belleview or Jim Woods parks, Murphy Field or even the marina.

“Here’s what gentrification is all about – when you push something to the side long enough that it loses value, so then you can come in and change it … and say they were the saviours, they’re making this park livable,” Mayo said.

“It ony happens in a black neighborhood. They’d never even consider putting it in those other parks because people don’t want it there. So what do they do? They impose it on the weakest community, the people with the smallest voice and least amount of representation, and impose it on them.”

Mayo maintains renovating a park “that’s already alive and thriving, being used by a segment of the community…doesn’t make any sense,” though he admits he had his own plans for it. He’d said he wanted “to renovate that building and the park for the people who already live there, because there’s nowhere where they can go on the North End to go inside … there’s nowhere for them to go inside to read, write or go on the computer.”

“So my plan was to renovate the building and park for people that already live there,” he said, adding he figured to pay for it, “the same way he is, through donations. Just like his plan.”

Way said they chose North End Park because they wanted to give children in the North End a play area unrivalled not just in Steubenville, but in the surrounding region.’

“There’s no reason that an impoverished area should be excluded from a development that could benefit everybody,” Way said. “This is a public-private partnership — we’re looking to invite everybody in.”

Parks Director Lori Featherolf sees it as a win-win for the city.

“It would be an all-inclusive park, we wouldn’t be leaving anyone out,” she said. “And it will be a huge improvement for that park — a lot more play equipment that everyone can use, new bathrooms…the whole park would have a facelift. It’s something the city can’t afford to do on its own.

“I’m not saying the park doesn’t get used (now),” Featherolf added. “I’m saying it will be used more with what the vision is for this park.”