Hospital Park may get funds

The city officials will discuss allocating $28,464 to improvements and maintenance to Hospital Park, located between Frederick Memorial Hospital and Trail Avenue. The funds were part of a $4.2 million commitment to the HOPE VI federal housing initiative.

In a 2002 resolution, the city pledged its support to a 267-unit project that aims to create more mixed-income housing in the city.

The original plan for housing on the site of the former Hanson⁄Taney Apartments incorporated a park at the corner of 7th and North Market streets, which the city would maintain. Joe Adkins, the city’s deputy director of planning, said that park is no longer part of the project. The planning department is therefore recommending that the city amend the resolution to allocate the $28,464 to Hospital Park, located two blocks from the proposed new HOPE VI housing.

In 2006, neighbors of the parkland formed ‘‘Friends of Hospital Park” to seek improvements for the 1.6-acre park, including new playground areas, a fountain and more family-friendly spaces. The group put together a master plan for the park with input from various neighbors, including Hood College, the Salvation Army and Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School on Dill Avenue.

The Friends estimate proposed renovations could cost up to $500,000.

Amanda Foster, vice president of the Friends group, said she is pleased with the potential funding for the park, as well as another pledge of $50,000 from HOPE VI developer TCG⁄Venezia.

‘‘We think it is vital to the health of children and the larger well-being of the neighborhood ... to have public green space,” said Foster, a Trail Avenue resident. ‘‘A grassy field is great, but if you can make it inviting and useful for everyone, that is wonderful. Green space is valuable and we don’t want to lose it.”

Foster estimates that a majority of the funds will be needed for amenities for older children and toddlers. The Friends group hopes the city can also offer labor and materials to get the land ready for the equipment.

‘‘If we have to do things like spread woodchips and lay concrete ... that will come out of the allocation and might preclude us from getting all the equipment,” she said.

The Friends group is also working to establish itself as a nonprofit, and hoping to partner with the Community Foundation of Frederick County to serve as its fiscal agent. With that accomplished, Foster said, the group could work to raise its own funds and apply for local and state grants for future park improvements. Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) said he approves of the reallocation of city funds to an existing park rather than a developer-crafted ‘‘pocket park.”

‘‘It is just more efficient versus the smaller parks ... which are not easy to use and can be difficult to maintain,” he said.