City council votes to pass a resolution appropriating millions of dollars to transform Rodger Young Park in East Erie.

Dozens of people addressed council about the need for the park, with the public comment section of the meeting taking nearly an hour and a half.

The city has already designated $5 million in ARP funds to upgrade public parks and outdoor spaces throughout the city.

Under this resolution, the city will use nearly half of those funds for Rodger Young Park. The money would be used to install a brand new 400-meter competition level track and multi-use field for football and soccer.

Erie High athletes spoke saying they've been asking for a track for years, and their runners often sustain injuries because they don't have access to an appropriate competition level track. “My 9th and 10th grade year, I ended up injured because we do not have a track,” one Erie High runner said. “We run inside on concrete floors. I fractured my right tibia my first year, and my left tibia my second year.”

Other community members say the transformation of this park will serve as a promise to new generations that the city cares about their future. “Until these children see the type of investment in the Rodger Young Plan represents, they have no reason to trust anything we say or we do,” said one Erie resident. “In planning for the future of our city, we have to start with the hopes and dreams of those children.”

City council president Liz Allen says more planning needs to go into the effort before she gets behind it. “The proposal to set aside $2.3 million for this specific project at Rodger Young is premature,” said Allen.

The resolution did pass in a 7-2 vote.

No timeline is set for when the park transformation would begin.