PHOTO BY GREG CZNADEL

Thursday, May 22, 2025; dedication of Harmody Park memorial stone, on Plymouth Road between Mayview Avenue & South Hills Drive in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood: (L-R): Ellen, daughter of Councilman Harmody (to whom park is dedicated) with Alexandria (Alex) Nichols, new Director of Cleveland Parks and Recreation (2024); and Ward 12 Cleveland City Council Representative Rebecca Maurer. The dedication ceremony celebrates $300,000 in park improvements, the formation of the Friends of Harmody Park group, and plans to revitalize Treadway Trail.

PHOTO BY GREG CZNADEL

Thursday, May 22, 2025; dedication of Harmody Park memorial stone, on Plymouth Road between Mayview Avenue & South Hills Drive in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood: A young cyclist takes advantage of a stopped-up drain for a thrilling splash filled ride through the puddle pond.

by Greg Cznadel

            (Plain Press July 2025) On a rainy May 22, community members and City leaders joined Ward 12 Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer at Harmody Park on Plymouth Road between Mayview Avenue and South Hills Drive in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood to announce $300,000 in park improvements, the formation of the Friends of Harmody Park group, and plans to revitalize Treadway Trail.

   Councilwoman Maurer was not going to let anything get in the way of the dedication of Harmody Park’s new memorial entrance stone. As rain came down and tents caught the water spilling it onto the chairs, an unintended splash pad in the middle of the playground filled, creeping nearer the tent and engulfing one tent post. Maurer snatched a chair, put it by the post, and poked the tents roof causing a downfall of water. She jumped.

   Surprisingly, one by one, people poured into the park.

   That rainy afternoon had Jim McKnight from the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects talking about what the TLC Treadway Trail now needs after 20 years. McKnight said, “There’s uneven pavement and some railings that are broken. Those repairs will be made this summer. Any capital improvements that are needed will still be our responsibility, but the day-to-day management will be turned over to the Metro Parks, which also manages the Towpath Trail.

   “We’ll be anxious and happy to work with the Friends Group as they develop some responses to the surveys and other ideas for what we can do to make the park improvements over time. But we’ll be with you to help put a master plan together for those improvements.”

   Phil Kidd, from the Office of Capital Improvements expanded on the future of Treadway Trail.  “We’re going to begin to work on a design for something called a Neighborhood Greenway, which is basically an in-road option that is a path that will connect from here to Brighton Park. So, when we get to Brighton Park then we’d be able to connect over to the zoo, to the reservation and other points throughout the network that we’re building out. We call this a quick build project. It’s going to be mostly unique stamping in streets, a lot of signage.”

   The family of Richard Harmody, the park’s namesake, also shared heartfelt reflections.

   The first upgrade to Harmody will be to the tennis courts. Alex Guthrie at the Sports Management Company called Top Notch Management was excited this year to select Harmody as their second site to have tennis courts redone. “We’re very excited that the goals for our project and the goals for Harmody Park overlapped into this nice marriage here. So, we are thankful to be part of this new era of Harmody Park. And thank you everyone for your support of our project here.”

   Rebecca Maurer, council person for Ward 12 where the park is located, introduced Michael O’Malley, head of Friends of Harmody Park.

   O’Malley addressed those present, saying, “Hi, thanks for coming out. We are here for the same reason, because we care about this community, and, in particular, about this park. Just like you, we want a better park. A park we can be proud of. A park that meets our needs.

   “To do that, though, we need your help. We would love to have you join our group if possible, and if not, help us through our survey. It is short. It should only take about 5 minutes and if you want to do some more, there’s a QR code on the back that will allow us to gain some more information that we can then use to better this part. Together we can make this into a better Harmody Park, and into a better community. Thank you very much.”

   Rebecca Maurer ended the afternoon with, “Our office is committing what we’re calling a down payment for Harmody Park of $300,000. So that money has been set aside already. It is outside of Council’s hands. No one from Council can reach their fingers into it.” 

   If you are interested in learning more about the Friends of Harmody Park group, reach out to Friendsofharmodypark@gmail.com for more info!