BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      A proposed stormwater park, dubbed the Forest Lawn Stormwater Park, to be located on the property of the current Market St. Elementary School, 5555 Market St., received a boost last week with the announcement that the project has been awarded a $750,000 capital grant from the state of Ohio.
      When completed, the Forest Lawn Stormwater Park will be a 14.6-acre green space on the property of the former elementary school that will be designed to improve surface water flows impacting up to 1,400 homes.
      It will include the creation of a passive park where people can gather and walk along a lighted sidewalk, complete with security cameras, as well as the entire site will be re-forested with appropriate plantings.
      Once completed, during heavy rainfalls, the project will be able to hold up to the equivalent of 9-feet of water (an estimated one million gallons) spread over the surface the size of a football field.
      Already the stormwater park has received allocations totaling some $3 million, including a $1.2 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), $1 million from Mahoning County Commissioners Anthony Traficanti, David Ditzler and Carol Rimedio-Righetti, a $500,000 grant from the state of Ohio and a $320,000 grant from H-2 Ohio.
      The current grant award will be used for property acquisition, parking lot construction and construction of an environmental education pavilion, thanks to the lobbying efforts of State Rep. Al Cutrona and State Sen. Michael Rulli.
      The environmental education pavilion will maximize educational opportunities at the stormwater park.