Brandon Park had the look of benign neglect Thursday evening.

The grass was cut, but the pavement was badly broken. The light poles were heavily rusted, and bushes grew over the walking paths in places.

There has been no significant investment in the park, along Wabank Road in the city southwest area, in decades.

That will change beginning this fall.

Brandon Park is slated to be the second city park to undergo extensive renovation under a 2-year-old revitalization plan. City Public Works Director Charlotte Katzenmoyer presented the plans to about a half-dozen neighborhood residents at Price Elementary School Thursday.

Brandon follows Sixth Ward Park, which has seen a considerable increase in use since renovations were completed there last year. The official rededication occurred last week.

As with Sixth Ward, Brandon Park also presents an opportunity for the city to advance its "green infrastructure" plans.

Under pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city is making changes to prevent rainwater from entering its sewer system, and ultimately, stormwater from overwhelming the treatment system and releasing raw sewage into the Conestoga River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Changes to be made at the park will allow more rainwater to soak into the ground.

Brian Marengo, of environmental consultant CH2M Hill, said that when the park improvements are completed, as much as 5 million gallons of rainwater now going into the city sewer system will be diverted into the ground.

Those changes include repaving two parking areas with porous pavement and adding recessed "rain gardens," where water can collect and infiltrate the soil.

Marengo said the park is a natural drainage area. A stream had flowed down the hill, connecting with another stream that ran south along Water Street, until it was encased in a sewer line in the 1920s.

Plans also call for the sidewalks to be widened along Wabank Street, opposite Brandon Court. The widening will include handicapped ramps to bring the area into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also will allow for an area of grass or paving bricks that will allow passage of rainwater.

Landscape architect John Hershey, of Thomas Committa Associates, who did the park designs, said the parking lots currently dead-end. Under the improvement plans, they will be connected to improve traffic flow.

Macadam between the parking area and the four basketball courts also will be removed. It will be replaced with large steps that will serve as a spectator area, Hershey said.

An existing playground along Wabank Road will be improved for older children, while a new tot lot playground will be built adjacent to the Lancaster Rec Commission building, he said.

The second phase of park improvements calls for construction of a skate park near the existing playground.

Katzenmoyer said the second phase won't begin until phase one improvements are done at Rodney, Crystal and Reservoir parks.

The initial improvements at Brandon Park were earlier estimated to cost $1.1 million. That figure does not include additional costs for the green infrastructure.

Katzenmoyer said work on the park likely will begin in late October, after the busy summer recreation season. She will push to ensure the work is completed by late spring 2012, she said.

bharris@lnpnews.com