‘We need to rebuild this;’ Every building, 80% of trees in Greenville park damaged by tornado

Tuesday’s tornado outbreak caused significant damage across the Miami Valley, including Greenville where the damage has shut down Greenville City Park.

Greenville residents like Dorothy Fullerton and Gary Daugherty said they’re sad to see the damage done to the park.

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“We just hate to see all these trees down because that’s what makes the park – it’s those big, beautiful trees we have,” Daugherty said.

News Center 7′s John Bedell spoke to Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker, about the damage done to the park, which remains closed. As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00 , he said not a single building at the park escaped damage.

“I’m very sad and I know most of the people that live in the city of Greenville are feeling the same way,” Whitaker said. “This is an institution in Greenville.”

Thousands of people use the park every year. They enjoy concerts, use the walking paths, fish in the ponds, and enjoy the shade of the trees – many of which are gone now.

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“I would say there’s at least 75 to 80 percent of the trees that got affected,” Whitaker said.

The city says they will rebuild the park but asks that people stay away for now so crews can clean it up and make it safe again.

“We need to rebuild this park. It’s so widely used,” Whitaker said. “Unfortunately, it’s not going to look like this for a long time and look like what it was before Tuesday, but we’re going to have to watch it grow again.”