PARKS
The Thomas family’s donation allows there to be parkland along the Scioto River.
John Thomas owned Thomas Motor Sales and served as a volunteer firefighter, a deputy police officer and a Perry Township trustee. He died in 1981. Berniece Thomas taught in the Dublin school system. She died in 2002. The couple married in 1927 and had three children: Norman, JoEllen and Dave.
Dave and his wife, LaDonna, are looking forward to seeing the park completed.
“It looks like it will be a nice area when it’s finished,” said LaDonna Thomas, 73.
The park is part of Dublin’s ongoing Bridge Street District development, which includes commercial, office and residential development along Riverside Drive.
The donated land will join the 16.61 acres on the east side of the park, which will be the site of events and small concerts. “We expect a mix of public and private events,” Earman said.
The west side of the park is 19.68 acres and will be its natural area.
“It will be meandering through the forested area,” Earman said. “We’re going to be focusing a lot on those natural areas and building some walkways so people can actually get into the natural components of the park.”
Construction of a pedestrian bridge over the Scioto River is also underway. The bridge is separate from the Riverside Crossing Park and will cost about $22 million.
The park’s project team is to present a new capitalimprovement program plan to the Dublin City Council this summer.
“That program, once adopted, we’ll have a little bit clearer layout of what projects will happen when, how much they will cost, and over a span of five years, it gives a little bit stronger picture to what people can expect from the park,” Earman said.
Once the project is completed, the project team hopes to have the park open 18 hours a day.
“There’s a lot of anticipation for the park and the bridge, and there’s a lot of excitement out there for it, and we just hope people can be patient as we take the five years to get it done,” Earman said. “It doesn’t happen overnight.”