MORGNATOWN — Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners (BOPARC) Executive Director Melissa Wiles said work to replace a historic stone wall around Jack Roberts Memorial Park should be complete this fall.
The 4-foot stone wall partially surrounding the 1st Ward park stood intact for at least 100 years before March 2015, when the northern end of the structure collapsed.
Last August, BOPARC opted to use a $20,000 grant from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Foundation to fix the crumbled section of the wall.
BOPARC then requested and received a matching $20,000 from the city to complete the project which, Wiles said, should be done this year.
The stone wall originally ran along the length of the park bordering Madigan Avenue before rounding the corner at the intersection with Leonard Street.
It is unknown if the wall was built during the construction of the former First Ward Elementary School — around 1909 — or already standing when the Board of Education purchased the four-acre parcel.
Because of modern building codes, the wall cannot be built to its original height without a fence. According to The Dominion Post archive, a “sitting wall” option was agreed upon that will not require fencing.
BOPARC received a number of options from Thrasher Engineering last July that ranged from $45,500 to $140,000
