Creek restorations will give Hannah Penn field a boost

Repairs that are being made to a streambank near Hannah Penn K-8 will also benefit the school's football field, officials said.

The $960,000 project led by York City is to clean up Poorhouse Run, a creek near Hannah Penn and Memorial Park, said Chaz Green, York City director of public works.

With the main goal of improving the environmental health of the stream, dirt must be removed in order to widen the bank. 

"All the dirt would normally have to be hauled away, so they decided to take all the dirt and put it on Hannah Penn's field," Green said. "Their fields will now be levelled out."

All money to fund the streambank restoration project is from grant money, Green said.

Other improvements made to the creek will include tree removal, restoring the natural floodplain, removing the steep banks and improving overall access to the creek.

The Hannah Penn football field will be raised by two inches as a result of the additional dirt, said ShaiQuana Mitchell, a spokesperson for York City School District.

While dirt is added to the field, it will be temporarily unavailable. 

Athletic structures, such as backstops and goalposts, will be painted and reinstalled upon the completion of the project, Mitchell said.

Officials hope to have field repairs done by Nov. 10, she added.

— Reach Tina Locurto at tlocurto@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @tina_locurto.