Old Prospect School gets new name in Oberlin

The old Prospect Elementary School in Oberlin will now be known as the "Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center," City Council decided Monday. The city's Recreation Commission voted unanimously recently to change the name of the South Prospect Street property, Recreation Superintendent Ian Yarber and Recreation Commission Chairman Kevin Miller told council. To call it the "Oberlin Activity Center" didn't take into account "the actions taken around the community to bring people together," so "Enrichment" was added, Miller said. Councilwoman Elizabeth Meadows said she was impressed, but recommended more. "I'd like to add something to it, believe it or not: 'The Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center at Prospect' because so many people have come to know it as 'Prospect,'" she said. The building is at 36 S. Prospect St. The resolution will be effective after May 2 because the building is a polling place for the primary election. To change the name immediately could create confusion, council members said. "Prospect Park" will refer to the grounds of the nearly 4-acre property. The former elementary school, with nearly 39,000 square feet of space, closed in 2021 when Oberlin Schools opened Oberlin Elementary School on North Pleasant Street. The city and the schools then made a trade: The Prospect property to the city in exchange for less than half an acre of land adjacent to the former site of the Pleasant Street School, across from Oberlin High School, to the Board of Education. The Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center will serve as a community center, the headquarters of the Oberlin Recreation Department and other city offices, and serve as an educational space for young children. Council unanimously approved a facility use agreement with OberlinKids Community Collaborative to use space at the Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center for its free child enrichment programs Oberlin Kids Director Jenn Keathley said the program for children up to 5 years old is free for children, parents and families in the new $30,000 OberlinKids Community room at the center. The OberlinKids program has no income restrictions, is "100 percent free of charge" and helps children build social-emotional skills, Keathley said. Council also codified the name of the "Oberlin Underground Railroad Center," which just makes official "what we've already been calling it for years," Meadows said. That building is at 278 S. Main St. In related business, council discussed growing concern about doggy-dos and doggy-don'ts at Prospect Park behind the Oberlin Enrichment and Activity Center. With children using the facility more and more, there are concerns that citizens have created what Councilman Ray English called "an informal dog park" there. Oberlin has a leash law and a pooper-scooper ordinance, which not everyone is following, Councilman Kelley Singleton said. "I think we need clear signage and need to enforce our ordinance to create a safe space for the children playing there," English said. City Manager Rob Hilliard said efforts will begin with education and clear signage, and follow with "the full extent of the law." "Educate, be clear, inform and enforce," he told council. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.