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Final Four legacy project refurbishes east side park

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indianapolis park received a giant face lift because the Final Four chose Indianapolis for the championship game.

It was part of the Final Four Legacy Restorations.

When the Final Four chooses a city, leaders said they want to leave a lasting legacy for youth in that community.

They chose two places to revitalize in Indianapolis.

One of the projects is the JTV Hill Park Center on Columbia Avenue.

The NCAA teamed up with Lowe’s and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful to clean up the park and to refurbish the inside basketball court.

Indiana Sports Corp and the host committee helped coordinate the projects.

On March 18, volunteers cleared out all of the old sand from around the playground to make way for new mulch.

They sanded the picnic tables and pulled weeds from flower beds around the park. They have planned to put in new plants around the facility.In 2014, 24-Hour News 8 reported that IMPD Police Athletic League (PAL) had started to use the facility for their kids athletic leagues.

The Final Four project includes refurbishing the indoor basketball court, adding new backboards, redoing the floor, a fresh coat of paint and new bleachers.

“The PAL organization is just instrumental to keeping the kids off the streets in this neighborhood. So, I think the revitalization of this court will be really useful to them. They’ll be able to impact so many more kids both inside and outside,” said Molly Powell, Senior Director of Youth Programming for Indiana Sports Corp.

Powell said when the Final Four comes to Indianapolis, they’ll make an impact on an estimated 15,000 youth in the Indianapolis community.