WORK TO BEGIN — Restoration of the stream running through Beatty Park will begin within the week. Ohio Department of Natural Resources provided the funding, a $300,000 H2O Ohio grant. -- Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — City officials say an upcoming stream restoration project at Beatty Park will “keep the water from eroding the banks.”

The work, aimed at stabilizing the stream running through Beatty Park, is slated to get underway in about a week.

“It will keep the water from eroding the banks, stabilize them,” City Engineer Mike Dolak said. “There’s one area where it was getting close to the roadway. This will keep the stream and the banks healthy.”

Dolak said a playground, parking lot and the roadway through Beatty Park itself are all at risk from the erosion, which has already washed away much of the bank from the playground area and was getting perilously close to the parking lot and road.

The work is being funded via a $300,000 H20 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and will target about 650-700 feet of the stream bank — though Dolak said it won’t be in one continuous stretch. It’s expected to take about four to six weeks or so complete.

Davey Resources Group Inc. is doing the design-build.

“The stream restoration project will reinforce the walls of the stream to prevent further erosion,” Mayor Ralph Petrella said. “This is very important to be able to keep the road through the park from being lost. Without this project, we run the risk of losing access to the upper parts of the park.”

The idea is to stabilize it with vegetation and man-made materials, he said.

“They build ‘erosion walls’ out of trees or root balls,” Dolak said. “(The idea) is to try to stabilize it so it doesn’t erode.”

Established more than 165 years ago, the city acquired Beatty Park from Union Cemetery in 1930. The 99-acre park is on the National Register of Historic Places.