Impett Park to receive state-of-the-art and inclusive playground, pavilion upgrade planned – The Land

The playground at a popular park on Cleveland’s West Side has been closed for demolition and a much-anticipated renovation by neighborhood volunteers.

The playground at Impett Park was closed on August 27 for a project that will result in “a state-of-the-art and inclusive playground designed by residents that will set the new standard for City of Cleveland parks,” City Councilman Charles Slife said in a recent message to residents.

The city has allocated $750,000 for a new playground at Impett Park, said Slife, who thanked residents who joined him in advocating for “one of District 17’s greatest parks.”

Impett Park is a 32-acre park in far west Cleveland. Located in the middle of a busy residential area, it is a well-used facility. Almost twice the size of the next largest park in Ward 17, Impett is the central hub for outdoor activities in Ward 17. Its amenities include:

• Swimming pool (only outdoor pool in district 17)
• Food stand
• Toilets
• Three baseball fields
• Football field
• Five tennis courts (two of them also with stripes for pickleball)
• Woodland area with hiking trails and a garden with native species
• playground
• Picnic shelter
• Parking lot with 155 spaces

As Slife mentions, this extensive renovation is the result of a grassroots initiative by an energetic and hard-working group of citizens who have spent the past two years planning and planting to beautify this popular urban park.

Led by founders Kate Catanese and Donaldson Hill, Friends of Impett Park (FOIP) quickly took action to improve the everyday use of the park. These action-oriented volunteers worked passionately to improve their green spaces. FOIP reached out to park visitors to collect and compile wish lists for improving Impett Park.

Upgrading the playground equipment was the top 10 most requested improvements. The design of the playground reflected the community’s wants and needs. If the playground equipment is demolished, the existing pavilion will also be demolished. Aside from being within the renovation plan for the new playground, officials felt it needed to be upgraded to accommodate the upcoming renovations.

The result of the citizens’ initiative was a plan for a “dream pavilion,” a larger, modern, handicapped-accessible pavilion with electricity. The funds for such a replacement would have to come from a source other than playground funding.

On 15 August 2024, an application was therefore submitted for a NatureWorks Grant. The announcement of the grant award recommendations is expected by the end of 2024.

The NatureWorks grant program provides local government units (townships, villages, cities, counties, park districts, joint recreation districts, and conservation districts) with up to 75% reimbursement for the acquisition, development, and rehabilitation of recreational areas.

Catanese explained the need for the grant when speaking to The Land. “When it became clear that there was no way to save the existing picnic shelter if the old playground was demolished, Nora Kelley (a key volunteer with FOIP) and I met with representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects (MOCAP) and Parks & Recreation at City Hall last December,” she said. “We proposed jointly applying for a NatureWorks grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to replace the picnic shelter. The result was a collaboration between Friends of Impett Park and the Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects.

“I wrote the statements of why we need the new shelter, and Jay Rauschenbach (Parks and Recreation Planning Manager) and Michael Reder (Landscape Designer, Department of Architecture and Site Development) put together all of the components the city requested. Councilman Slife wrote the legislation requesting the use of City Council funds for the grants (25% of the project cost must be covered by a source other than the ODNR). With Councilman Slife’s input, we were able to apply for the grant. It was sent to the ODNR today,” she added.

FOIP provided the municipality’s information obtained from the surveys and initial catalogue selections to the Mayor’s Office of Investment Projects for use in design planning at the municipal level.

This community effort has been undertaken by FOIP in Impett Park in many ways. On Sunday mornings of good weather, eager volunteers have re-laid a walkway through a wooded part of the park. Funds have been raised for a new drinking fountain. This year, a well-planned rain garden project was undertaken to facilitate rainwater collection. This summer, about 50 volunteers began painting a new mural on the wall of the pool house. The concession stand is well-stocked and open during events. There is hope that the park will continue to improve as Friends of Impett Park continues its careful planning to ensure a bright future for the park and the residents who benefit most from it.

To see all the activities at Impett Park, go to