You can see the potential.

William H. Laubach Memorial Park, 1600 Lehigh Ave., Salisbury Township, is a diamond in the rough.

The park, which gets a lot of use by Salisbury Youth Association football and boys and girls softball teams, is subject to runoff problems, has an old pavilion which could use upgrading or replacement, bathrooms that need to meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements, an apparently abandoned high-wire electrical tower covered in weeds, a wooden footbridge with missing boards, shuffleboard courts appearing to be neglected and a pond choked with algae.

A tour of the park was held July 20 by some 20 members of the Laubach Park Master Site Plan Committee.

Plants and weeds obscure the Laubach Park signs, which are in need of repair along Lehigh Avenue and Fairview Avenue.

Still, the 14.25-acre Laubach Park, accessible from Fairview Avenue and located between East Susquehanna Street and East Emmaus Avenue not far from the intersection with Broadway and Seidersville Road, has a splendid view of Lehigh Mountain and provides an urban oasis for picnicking, leisurely strolls around the pond or a pickup game of basketball and a chance to work on your tennis game.

Leonard J. Policelli of Urban Research & Development Corp., Bethlehem, consultant for the Laubach Park Master Plan, assisted by URDC staffer Joanne H. Conley, led the approximate 1 1/2-hour tour and discussion.

"This one will have more of a challenge with stormwater," Policelli told the group prior to the start of the Laubach tour, noting runoff from the tennis courts. Policelli and URDC also consulted the township on the Lindberg Park Master Plan.

"Draining is a lot more complex than at Lindberg," Salisbury Township Director of Public Works John Andreas agreed, who during the tour noted numerous drainage problems at Laubach and the township's efforts to mitigate the runoff.

"This whole east side of the township was swampy wetlands before development," Andreas said. "And now, you wouldn't have been able to develop it," Andreas added, referring to township, state and federal laws.

The township has installed several underdrains in Laubach Park. Pipes empty into Trout Creek, which flows through the south side of the park.

Andreas noted a recent improvement to the park, the removal of Canada Geese, not one of which was seen on the tour.

"Taking the geese on was a real challenge," Andreas said.

Vehicle parking is available on lots off Fairview and Lehigh avenues. There is also diagonal parking along Lehigh Avenue.

Construction improvements to the park are not expected to begin until 2017 at the earliest.

"We're sitting here in 2015," Salisbury Township Commissioner Vice President Debra Brinton said as the group gathered under the pavilion at the conclusion of the tour. "And you're not going to start moving any dirt until 2017."

The Laubach Park Master Plan is expected to be completed by February or March 2016. Seven to nine meetings are planned for the Laubach Park committee and the URDC. After that, several as yet to be announced public meetings are to be held in the municipal building.

After public meetings, the recreation commission and URDC are expected to present the Laubach Park Master Plan to the township board of commissioners. After that, the commissioners would decide how to proceed with the plan and how to fund the improvements to the park.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources approved a $26,700 Community Conservation Partnership Program Grant for the Laubach Park Master Plan and Recreation Connections Project. The grant is being matched with an equal amount from the township.