Three organizations in St. Clair Superior neighborhood and several supporting partners came together in the past year to improve their corner of Cleveland and give the neighborhood residents and children a place to play and gather.

Their vision became a reality earlier this month with the opening of a pocket park on a vacant lot at East 60th Street and Prosser Avenue.

Through a cooperative effort between Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry (LMM), Ingenuity Cleveland, and Rita and Kevin Hamilton, who run the sober living ministry Emmanuel Promise of Hope (EPOH) on East 60th Street, along with other partners and donors who contributed more than $20,000, the group was able to create the park.

“We are so pleased, we are so in love with it, and just grateful it came together,” says  Rita Hamilton.

The park opened with a celebration last Saturday, July 13 with a cookout and refreshments by

St. Clair-Superior Pocket Park openingLMM’s Metro45 food truck, face painting, balloon twisting, games, and volunteers putting the final touches on the park.

Residents, volunteers from Enbridge Gas Ohio, Ward 7 Cleveland City Council member Stephanie Howse-Jones and St. Clair Superior CDC community engagement manager Brittiny Hubbard were among the crowd celebrating, along with representatives from IngenuityLabs Incubator member Gabe Smith owner of Cleveland Fabrication, who created the playscape that was designed by Ingenuity artistic director Emily Appelbaum.

The Hamiltons returned to the pocket park on Sunday after the celebration to admire the park and were thrilled to see neighborhood kids using it.

“The icing on the cake was on Sunday,” says Rita. “My husband and I came home from church, and we went over there to look around. We pulled up to the park and [there were] two little girls with their grandmother out there, running towards it. And they were saying, ‘Thank you, thank you.’ It was so great.”

The idea for the park first sparked in 2020 when the Hamiltons acquired the land from the Cuyahoga Land Bank and were debating what they could do to improve the neighborhood.

“We talked about gardening, we talked about other stuff,” Rita recalls. “I [wanted] to see the kids have somewhere to play, because we noticed that they were playing in the street—they would run up and down the street, throw the football. The park was something to get their attention away from and off the street.”

St. Clair-Superior Pocket Park opening ribbon cuttingRita says the Dreier Family Foundation donated pavilions for the park, Home Depot  installed them on the property, Rita looked into grants to do more, but nothing came of her research. Then, she learned of LMM’s $2.5 million Breaking New Ground project to build 20 homes in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood for families exiting homelessness.

“I tabled [the park project] because I knew it was out of our budget at that time,” Rita recalls. “Then [LMM vice president of housing] Michael Sering and LMM started rehabbing over here, and we developed [the park]. He saw our pavilions, and that's how it got started.”

Before long, Ingenuity Cleveland got involved in the project and Appelbaum designed the equipment made with durable 2x6 lumber, stained blue, yellow, and green, according to Ingenuity marketing and development manager Emma Morris. The base is filled with rubber mulch made from recycled tires, donated by IMC Outdoor Living, Liberty Tire and donor Dave and Holly Little [and TriState Capital Bank].

Morris says Ingenuity focused on gathering community feedback to design the park and equipment—including the sea monster theme that developed from the equipment design.

“We surveyed the community to find out how they wanted it colored, what they wanted it to look like, and what to name it,” Morris says. “The community chose ‘Manny,’ which is short for ‘Emmanuel,’ meaning ‘God is With Us.’ And it helps to watch over our loved ones who visit the new greenspace.”

Councilwoman Jones-Howse says she is appreciative of the community effort.

“"Our Ward 7 community is thrilled to see the St. Clair Superior neighborhood come together to create such a wonderful playscape for our children,” she says. “The addition of the sea monster Manny is a testament to the power of community collaboration and creativity. Special thanks to the hard work and commitment of Emmanuel Promise of Hope, Inc.  and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry for showing us what can be achieved when we unite for the betterment of our community."

Councilwoman Stephanie Howse-Jones, Cleveland City Council, delivers proclamations from the City of Cleveland at the St. Clair-Superior Pocket Park openingEPOH’s Kevin Hamilton says he is grateful for all the help they got in building a beautiful, safe park for the neighborhood children.

“I thank God that we were able to get volunteers,” he says. “We had Dominion out and Home Depot helped us a lot. We had rubber [mulch], tires cut up, and it's really soft. There were a lot of bags of it, and it was a lot of weight.

Kevin says these are the organizations that were able to do things like clear the brush surrounding property and other tasks they couldn’t have done alone. “It just enhanced the way it looks,” he says, adding that they are already planning a second phase for the park.

“We want to put in a couple park benches and some other things in the future,” he says. “We want to put in the park benches so the parents, when they come and watch the kids, they'll have somewhere to sit.”

LMM’s Sering says the playground is the perfect addition to the neighborhood.

“LMM is so excited to see the playground,” he says. “We have great partners who brought together their staff, skills, volunteers, and the site to make it happen.  St Clair Superior is a vibrant neighborhood where our family affordable houses are located, so we are thrilled to have helped play a role to bring the playground to this area.”