YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – There was a time when Borts Field on Youngstown’s west side was filled with people, either swimming in the pool or playing baseball on the field. Today, Borts has neither a pool nor a baseball field — and it’s hoped a million-dollar plan will rejuvenate it.
Noel Colbert and her mother are the third and fourth generations to live in a house directly across from Youngstown’s Borts Field.
She was thrilled to learn a million dollars will be spent to fix it up.
“I grew up here, my mom grew up here and now I’m raising my son here, and it would be awesome to have something to do other than walk the streets,” Colbert said.
“We’ve gotten a lot of good ideas but it was time to pull the trigger and bring this to fruition,” said Councilman Mike Ray.
Ray’s 4th Ward includes Borts Field, which borders Oakwood, Connecticut and Bella Vista Avenues on the west side.
“You think about Mill Creek Park and the Flats, how that’s a large, open area, or towns that have a commons area where there’s trees and benches that you can go,” he said.
In 1990, the swimming pool at Borts Field was a popular place in the summer. A generation prior in 1958, the tennis courts would be flooded in winter, which allowed for ice skating.
Today, even though adjacent housing is the same, the field itself is not. All that’s left of the tennis courts is a concrete slab. The steps leading to the pool remain but the pool is gone.
“I’ve seen the preliminary plans that include a walking trail,” Ray said.
There will also be a new playground. The restrooms will be updated and reopened. The bleachers left over from the baseball field will be repurposed.
“We’re going to clear them, kind of restore the middle section. That, possibly, could be a location for a Jazz in the Park,” Ray said.
The field will also be relandscaped with maintenance in mind.
“We know that we struggle to find money to maintain things, so I want to make sure the assets and the things we put there are robust and don’t need a lot of grooming,” Ray said.
We should know the final plan for Borts Field within a month.
The regulations of the American Rescue Plan require that all work be finished by the end of 2026.