Archive: Around Town

Village of Lansing voters will have an opportunity to name three parks next week.  After voting for two open Board of Trustees seats, they will also get to vote on how to name the parks, including a major new park near Warren Road.  Village Trustees approved the ballot Monday for next Tuesday's election

"We have three parks that we have an opportunity to name," Mayor Donald Hartill said Monday.  "We have the big park, which is the new one on Northwoods Drive.  There's another one that we rebuilt across from Dankert Park, and there's a pocket park on Craft Road and Leif's Way.  This is a way of naming these parks for people who have benefited the Village in one way or another."

Construction on the new park on Northwoods Drive began last year, and more work is scheduled for the upcoming building season.  Village officials say it will be similar to Dankert Park on Uptown Road, named for Phillip Dankert, an outstanding volunteer who has made massive contributions of his time and talents to the Village and Ithaca.  The Lansing Village Community Park,  park across the street from Dankert Park, will get a new name to celebrate was reconstructed to replace old playground equipment that had become unsafe with age.  The pocket park is a small Village park.


Nominees for park names include (fuller descriptions are on the back of the ballot):

Valery Gyrisco:  a former Board of Trustees member, as well as a number of stints on the Village Planning Board

Marian Hartill: a Community Party observer for many years, she got voters out for elections, and hosted the annual Mayor's Holiday Party.  Married to Mayor Hartill, she passed away last month.

Ned Hickey: was a founding Village trustee and was the first Planning Board Chair, where he served for many years.

Rita and Sy Smith: This couple was instrumental in the formation of the Village of Lansing.  Rita organized the group that eventually got the Village incorporated, and wrote "Lansing at the Crossroads", a history of the formation of the Village.  Her husband Sy served as the first Mayor from 1975 to 1981.

Global Village Park: This name comes from an art project at the Village Community Park that recognized the internationally diverse Village, which has residents hailing from over 20 different countries.

The election is scheduled for next Tuesday April 24, from noon to 9pm.  Trustees John O'Neill and Gerry Monaghan are both running unopposed for another term.  Hartill says a separate voting booth will be set up in the Village Hall where voters may submit their ballots for naming the parks at the April 24th election.  Ballots will also be accepted at the Village Hall during the following week.

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