Mayor, councilman disagree on Oakwood Park lighting

LORAIN — Permanent lighting for basketball courts on Lorain's south side does not appear to be in the city's future. Legislation updating public park hours sparked a dispute between Mayor Jack Bradley and Councilman Angel Arroyo, D-6th Ward, at Monday's meeting. Previously, the park was open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The legislation would change hours to sunrise to sunset, except for the areas with permanent lighting, which may remain open until 11 p.m. The only areas with permanent lighting are the baseball fields at Oakwood Park, The Pipeyard at Campana Park and Lakeview Park South's tennis courts. During Monday's meeting, Arroyo questioned why the lights at Oakwood Park's basketball courts cannot be fixed, as the site had permanent lights in the 1990s that fell into disrepair and were not replaced. Only one of the original four light poles remains, and it does not work. Bradley said he discussed the issue at the managers' meeting that morning and had no plans to add lights to the south side courts. Arroyo pushed back, questioning why residents in South Lorain cannot use their park like those living on the west side can. "I'm not going to argue or discuss it," Bradley said. "I'm just telling you that we're not going to put that light on at this point. Unless Council wants to administer that park — you can legislate, but we're going to run the parks." Arroyo told him it was unacceptable and ultimately voted against the ordinance. It passed 9-1. Pam Carter, D-3rd Ward, was absent. On Tuesday, Public Properties Manager Lori Garcia said the infrastructure is not in place to put lighting at Oakwood's basketball courts, noting it would mean running new electrical systems as the defunct panel near the baseball field dates to the 1970s. The city has already spent millions on upgrades to Oakwood Park in recent years, she said, and it has to spread its funding around to other facilities. She said none of the city's basketball courts have lights, but special events like the Grind League's summer tournament have seen groups bring in portable lights for after-hours games. She said the Public Properties Department is gathering estimates for permanent lighting at Oakwood's court, but expects it would cost well over $100,000, which is not in the city's park budget. "No matter what the lights cost, I don't have any money to put into Oakwood Park this year," she said. Oakwood Pool Council unanimously approved a three-year contract with Hastings Water Works for the operation of Oakwood's pool on Monday. The company will open the pool in the spring, winterize it in the fall and staff it daily, Garcia said on Tuesday. The three-year contract will cost about $301,000. The city paid $95,000 last year. This is the second year the city has contracted with the Brecksville-based company, Garcia said, after a scramble last spring to replace the French Creek YMCA when it backed out of operating the facility in May, Garcia said. In addition to providing five lifeguards for the facility every day, Hastings Water Works also provides the chemicals for the pool, Garcia said, which cost the city about $45,000. The number of lifeguards on duty also allowed the city to increase the pool's daily capacity from 75 to 150 visitors. The 2026 season runs June 5 to Aug. 15. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.