Newark denies proposal to build baseball field in Delaware park after opposition

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For years, Newark Charter School has been looking for a new baseball field for its student-athletes. With limited space on its own campus, the school proposed expanding into the city of Newark’s Folk Memorial Park, a 30-acre public space known for its lush greenery, walking trails and diverse wildlife. The idea was to transform a portion of the park’s forested and wetland areas into a baseball and softball complex, one that school officials said would provide much-needed space for the youth.

But that proposal immediately sparked outrage among many Newark residents, particularly those who live near the park and view it as an irreplaceable environmental sanctuary. For weeks, opposition grew as community members organized, wrote letters to city officials and spread awareness about what they say was a threat to one of Newark’s last natural habitats.

The tension came to a head Monday night when Newark City Council, faced with an unexpectedly strong community presence — many wearing bright green “Save Folk Park” shirts — voted 5 to 1 to halt all discussions with Newark Charter regarding the expansion, even though the proposal wasn’t even listed on the meeting’s agenda.

“The Folk plan as it exists or any plan in Folk probably does not have a path forward,” Deputy Mayor Travis McDermott said before introducing a motion. “I’m going to make a motion to have the city council cease talks with Newark Charter School in reference to the Folk Park Baseball Project.”

The decision came after weeks of debate in the community, with more than 150 emails, both in support of and against the project, flooding McDermott’s email inbox.

Despite the divided opinions, McDermott’s motion ultimately passed. The vote meant that the city would no longer consider Folk Park as a location for the baseball field, effectively shutting down Newark Charter’s proposal unless there was a proposition of another location.

Not everyone agreed with the decision.

Councilman Jason Lawhorn, who said he spent ten years working as vice president of Newark American Little League, said Newark doesn’t have the right size fields.

“One of the big issues is that some of the existing fields just aren’t large enough and don’t have access that enables fields,” he said.“I can give you examples, I coached 8-year-old, 9-year-old and 10-year-old all-star teams and I wasn’t allowed to have practice at Barksdale. I wasn’t allowed to have practice at Dickey Park because they’re not large enough and you’re not allowed to hit baseballs there.”

Lawhorn, the lone vote against the motion, expressed frustration because there is not one park that provided a sizable baseball field. While acknowledging environmental concerns, he believed the issue deserved more public debate rather than being shut down entirely.

“To just kill this idea without any notice to anybody, I’m very surprised that this has come up out of nowhere tonight to just stop talking about this,” he said. “I think we need to go through the process and have a public conversation.”

A community mobilized and what’s to come

For many residents and environmental advocates, Monday night’s vote was the culmination of two weeks of intense activism. When news of the project first broke, neighbors near the park were blindsided. From that moment, neighbors near the park sprang into action organizing a petition.

“It was a total surprise to us,” said Michael Ingram, a Newark resident whose home borders the park. “I even started an online petition and it’s up about 300 signatures. Everyone there is pro- ‘Keep the park the way it is.’ Do not put a baseball field, do not put a softball field there.”

After the decision, Ingram was content. He noted the park has a lot of ecological significance.

“This place has lots of wildlife. It has foxes, deer, turtles, all kinds of birds, hawks … We all are concerned about climate change and we know that this area here is a really good carbon sink as far as taking out and cleaning the air,” he said. “Most of us are highly motivated by the environment and that’s the reason we’re fighting for this.”

“This is kind of a wetland. If they removed all the trees and the undergrowth, then there would be lots of flooding in nearby developments. There’s no doubt about that,” he added. “As a matter of fact, one of the things, there’s a couple of streams in here and the ballfields would actually destroy the streams in here. So, it would be a total devastation to the surrounding areas for us flooding and the wildlife population.”

While the baseball field proposal has been denied, the city has left the door open for future discussions with Newark Charter School. A public information session originally scheduled for Wednesday was canceled.

“The public information session to discuss a project proposed by Newark Charter School at Folk Memorial Park has been canceled,” a city spokesperson wrote in an email. “An item will be added to a future council agenda, during which time members of council can discuss if they will consider pursuing alternative options for partnering with Newark Charter School.”

But for community members like Ingram, this vote was about more than just one project — it was about setting a precedent for land conservation in Newark.

“This should be protected land,” he said. “We should not develop in places where wildlife and flooding goes on. It needs to be built for the future, for our kids.”

Looking ahead, nearby neighbors and other community members hope to permanently preserve the park and create ecological workshops and educational programs.

For now, Folk Memorial Park remains untouched, but the debate over how to balance development and conservation in Newark is far from over.