With the cutting of a purple ribbon, Mike McGeever Memorial Park was opened to the public Friday evening.
The shady area with the pergola and natural spring on the 500 block of North Centre Street was dedicated during a ceremony at the Schuylkill YMCA building across the street.
"Mike McGeever was a beloved friend and colleague and he was the inspiration for all these pocket parks," Jeffrey A. Feeser, director of housing at Schuylkill Community Action, said before the full gymnasium.
Michael G. McGeever served as Pottsville's Elm Street manager from March 2007 until his death in February 2009 and came up with the concept for the park.
The project started in 2008 after the city demolished the run-down buildings at 521-523 N. Centre St. The park was developed on the remains of the stone foundation of those buildings.
Work was done by volunteers from New Jersey representing the Jesus Unites Neighbors Everywhere, or JUNE, project.
The Rev. Darryl D. Duer, Carnford United Methodist Church, JUNE project coordinator, said it was "a labor of love" for the community and members of the JUNE project to see that the pocket park was built how McGeever envisioned.
City Mayor John D.W. Reiley presented a citation to the JUNE Project volunteers for all their work. He said the volunteers, much like McGeever, left a footprint in Schuylkill County.
"Mike was an exceptional young man and had very good ideas and was always hard-working and the park across the street is quite evident of that," Reiley said.
State Sen. Dave Argall, R-29, and state reps. Mike Tobash, R-125 and Neal P. Goodman, D-123, presented citations in memory of Mike McGeever and to the JUNE volunteers.
City Councilman James Muldowney, president of the Green Wave Association, also presented a plaque dedicated to McGeever.
Feeser thanked all the local supporters who made the project possible, including public partners like the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the City of Pottsville as well as a long list of private partners and volunteers.
Schuylkill Community Action used more than $35,000 in grant funding from DCED to develop the park.
Deputy Secretary Champ Holman of the office of Community Affairs and Development at DCED said when McGeever proposed building the pocket park, some people questioned it.
"But he did it," Holman said. "He was dedicated, he was committed and he wanted to improve. Some people will say 'Why?,' but Mike McGeever said 'Why not?' "
Austin Crowe, a JUNE Project volunteer for eight years, said when the group first arrived in Pottsville, some people didn't understand why they were there. He said it was McGeever who got everyone behind them as they set out to do great things for the community.
"He was also very dear to us, too" Crowe said.
After the dedication ceremony, everyone went across the street for the ribbon cutting and a song and prayer at the park led by Duer.
Bus loads of project volunteers attended the ceremony and crowded the park with locals and public officials only seconds after the ribbon fell to the ground.
A sign was also unveiled at the park that had its name on it. The Schuylkill YMCA will now serve as caretaker for the park.