Local park gets a landscape makeover

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CURTIS PARK AT THE intersection of Main and Maple Streets is seen in Oneonta on Thursday. BENJAMIN PATTON | THE DAILY STAR

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June 8, 2012

Local park gets a landscape makeover

By Denise Richardson Staff Writer The Daily Star Fri Jun 08, 2012, 08:26 AM EDT

Curtis Park, a noticeable but quiet-looking corner on Main Street downtown, has had a landscape lift. The changes were the focus of a celebration by Oneonta city officials, a Main Street business owner and others during a media conference in the park at the corner of Main and Maple streets Thursday afternoon.

“This is really a glorious event,’’ Mayor Dick Miller said to a small group.

Curtis Park, across from the start of James F. Lettis Highway, is a gateway into the city from Interstate 88 and property of the state. The recent landscape work was the result of private sector initiative, Miller said.

Cleinman Performance Partners and its founder and chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Cleinman contributed $2,500 toward landscaping and repairs, Miller said, and have made a commitment toward park maintenance.

“As a result of Alan Cleinman’s initiative and generosity, Asbury Gardens, the Oneonta Garden Club and city employees have been able to make Curtis Park a much more attractive gateway to our community,” Miller said. “I hope that this is the first in a series of improvements of this kind of space.’’

Curtis Park at 337 Main St. was the site of a gas station for almost 50 years, according to a media release. At the beginning of the 1970s, as construction for I-88 reached Oneonta, the state Department of Transportation assumed control of the site, and it remained vacant until 1976. The Friends of Catherine Curtis, under chairwoman Edith Wilk, petitioned to turn the lot into a park named after the prominent Oneonta citizen.

Trees in the park have been trimmed, flowers and other greenery have been planted and a picnic table is ready for guests. On Thursday, speakers stood on the table’s bench to be heard above the nonstop noise of traffic passing.

Cleinman, whose business address is 343 Main St. near the park, said his contribution toward recent improvements to the park is an extension of work his company began three years ago to renovate and conjoin two historic buildings at the same location.

“We received a great deal of support from the city of Oneonta, including a façade improvement grant, as part of our expansion project,’’ Cleinman said in the release.

“Some of our finishing touches included rebuilding the fence surrounding the park and landscaping our own property. This gift is an opportunity to give back to the community. We’re proud to do it.”

Miller said Cleinman’s gift served as a catalyst for expanded work on the park, which he described as looking “crummy’’ a year ago. The city also put in about $2,500 toward improvements, and Brian Fawcett, owner of Asbury Gardens Outdoor Living and Garden Center in Oneonta, volunteered expertise.

Cleinman Performance Partners, a consulting firm for the optometry sector, in 2010 received the local Properties of Merit Award, sponsored by the Future for Oneonta Foundation and The Daily Star, and in 2011, the company was recognized by the Otsego County Chamber with the Excellus Breakthrough Award.

Cleinman introduced firm facilities manager Ray DeGraaf, who built fencing around the park and will be mowing and otherwise maintaining the space. Cleinman said the improvements and maintenance are a gift to the city and it’s residents.

“We’re excited about it,’’ he said. “We now have our own personal park.’’