Doylestown Man Has New Goal for Burpee Park: Repave the Basketball Court

DOYLESTOWN, PA—The man who helped revitalize the pavilion at Doylestown’s Burpee Park two years ago is working on a new project—to repave the basketball court that is widely used—and he’s looking for help from the community.

Brian Guerriero, a borough resident who lives within a stone’s throw of Burpee Park, was honored by borough officials last year for his work on washing and painting the pavilion and then leading the effort to install plantings around the building. The pavilion is the small brick building in the park.

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(For more information on Guerriero’s previous efforts to restore the Burpee Park pavilion, see TAPinto Doylestown’s coverage.)

Now, Guerriero has turned his attention to another part of the park: the basketball court. The blacktop on the court needs a little TLC, and Guerriero is raising money to make it happen.

“The court has deteriorated over time,” Guerriero said in a phone interview. “It has cracks and has worn down to gravel in some spots. It’s past its usability as a basketball court.”

While Guerriero was able to do a lot of the previous work on the pavilion himself, that’s not going to be the case with the basketball court. “I have no experience with blacktop,” he said.

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Guerriero, however, has found an asphalt contractor willing to do the job for a reasonable price—$4,600—and to give him some time to raise the money. The goal is to have the court repaved by the fall, before the cold weather arrives and shuts down the season for paving.

The good news is that in the first week or so, Guerriero was able to raise nearly half of his goal with a GoFundMe page . Now, he’s looking for support from people in the community that he may not know or have ever met but want to support giving kids a safe place to play basketball.

“The basketball court is heavily used,” Guerriero said. Players from the nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel School use the court, as do residents from around the borough. That includes his two pre-teen children who spend a lot of time in the park and on the basketball court.

Guerriero has talked to borough officials about repaving the court. They may take on the project, but they first have to slot it into their budget planning process, which will take time.

“I'd rather see it continue to be used than hope it eventually makes the cut for the budget,” Guerriero said.

To date, Guerriero has received mostly small donations in $50 and $100 amounts. “Many donations come from people I don't know who just want to see Burpee Park continue to be utilized and be in good shape,” he said. “It’s a real grassroots effort for local residents.”

Guerriero also noted that he’s been impressed with how many local businesses have donated to the fund.

“It’s been really nice to see that many of the contributors are local business owners who have a real love of Doylestown and want to see the town maintained really well,” Guerriero said. “Some of these business owners may not even live in town, but they’ve contributed.”

Guerriero is optimistic that he’ll find the funding for the project and that it will contribute to the overall success of not only Burpee Park, but the borough. Since Guerriero fixed up the pavilion building, the borough has planted additional trees and a local artist painted mural on one side of the building.

“I would say every single weekend that pavilion is rented out now for birthday parties,” Guerriero said. The efforts to spruce up the pavilion “kick-started” the community’s focus on the park, something he thinks will be replicated one the basketball court is repaved.

The GoFundMe page is online.

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