North Royalton’s City Green will get a facelift this year, after the removal last year of the old city hall last July. The City Green is located at the intersection of Rt 82, Bennett and Ridge Roads and has served as a gathering place for many events over the years.
On December 19, a presentation was given to City Council by North Royalton Community Development Director, Tom Jordan, and representatives from Brandstetter Carroll Incorporated on the project. Jordan said that the city appointed Brandstetter Carroll, Incorporated as the architect to offer concepts to replace the old City Hall that are more recreationally-oriented. The firm has had several dealings with the city of North Royalton. They were the architect that designed the new City Hall, and were also involved in the North Royalton YMCA project.
The presentation was centered around a preliminary conceptual plan that showed a two story pavilion, which will be 60-ft. x 40-ft. “The plan incorporates the natural flow of the land and really maximizes the tremendous view over the valley,” said Ward 4 Councilman, Paul Marnecheck. The structure will be placed near the footprint of the old City Hall, at the northern tip of the property and will be complete with a fireplace, bathrooms, and bench seating, as well as updated landscaping and the replacement of the city’s sign, which will be upgraded to an electronic sign. The city hopes to keep the cost down to under a half million dollars. Jordan said that the city is submitting the plan as a capital request to the state for possible funding
“I think with the plan, the way it’s designed, I think it will turn out to be very very nice,” said North Royalton City Council President, Larry Antoskiewicz. “There was some discussion where guys wanted to add certain other things, although, in my mind, I don’t think they will be practical in what we want to do. It won’t be a park, but a pavilion on the City Green – the main place we have to hold city events. We can’t clutter it with other things. I think they were some good ideas, though, such as a bike rack and ports for phones and other devices. I guess, for me, hopefully everyone remembers that it is the City Green and we want to make it look nice, but we want to keep in mind that we hold all of our events there, so we can’t clutter it with a lot of stuff.”
Mayor Bob Stefanik said he hopes to have the pavilion built in time for the city’s bicentennial celebration, which is scheduled for this summer. He said that some of the suggestions made by Council will be incorporated into the plan before its final draft. “The goal is to get it done some time in summer, but it is dependent upon the weather and the availability of materials.”
Jordan said that he looks to have a plan formalized in the next few months, when it will again go before Council for its final approval, then go out to bid.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer