Hornsby offers to donate $30,000 for Goodwill Park improvements

Arthur Hornsby spoke to the Morris City Council Monday night, offering to donate $30,000 for improvements to Goodwill Park that he believes will fix safety issues and improve the park.

Hornsby wrote a letter to Mayor Chris Brown and the City Council.

“Goodwill park has been a neighborhood park for the past 75 years,” Hornsby said in the letter. “A park where parents walk their preschool children to the park and grade school children go to the park on their bicycles, A place where children can play all day with their friends.”

Hornsby is concerned with an open ditch in the park that could he said could be a safety problem that could be eliminated by installing perforated drainpipes designed to be installed below the surface, allowing water to enter the drainage tile to flow into an underground storm sewer.

Hornsby would also like the money to go toward a sidewalk from the public restroom to the Chapin Street entrance and a new basketball court north of the restrooms.

Mayor Chris Brown said he’s asking people to be patience.

“We’ve had over 20 different public hearings on all of our parks since we started the big parks plan,” Brown said. “There’s been a lot of alderman opinions and there’s been more than ample opportunity to be able to have some of these things. I think we’ve rectified some of the other things we’ve done, and sometimes they just take time.”

Brown said he’s asking people to be patient, see what’s working and what’s not, and go from there. He said the baseball fields will be open for kids to play on soon.

He said there’s also state and federal laws that have to be followed when working on a public park.

“I’m thankful that Art cares, and he’s passionate about everything he does,” Brown said.

Hornsby said the offer for the donation will expire on Tuesday, Oct. 1.