Eagle Scout plans to spruce up park with a memorial for Hannah Bankos.

Whitehall Township's parks and playground network continues to improve the Lower Cementon tract off Second Street with new playground equipment. As a result, families and children residing nearby have a place they can enjoy and call their own.

It seems fitting that an Eagle Scout project to take place later this year on the site will be created in memory of one of the area's children.

There have been several Eagle Boy Scout projects that have taken place on the Ironton Rail-Trail, but the one proposed for the small park, close to the Lehigh River, is its first such endeavor for a Boy Scout at the park setting.

Whitehall Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said on Friday Andrew Homlisch, Boy Scout Troop 79, Stiles, will earn his Eagle Scout pin and recognition with a project to remember Hannah Bankos.

Hannah Bankos was a Whitehall High School student and athlete who succumbed to cancer. The Bankos family resides practically in the shadow of the small park.

Homlisch, with approval from Minsi Trails Boy Scout Council, will have a handsome flagpole erected at the park site. The work will include installation of pavers, landscaping and other items to make the grounds a lasting memory to Hannah Bankos.

Hozza called the idea a fitting tribute to Hannah Bankos, whose short life had a great impact on the community, the school she attended and everyone who came to know her.

Homlisch is expected to complete the project in 2014, once the Boy Scouts Minsi Trails Council gives the go ahead. He has drawn up the plans, put in place the funding for the project and planned how he and others assisting him will carry the work to completion.