The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Park district marks ‘great year’
New property in Claridon Township poised for large draw
The Geauga Park District has had a good year.
From the success of its Nassau Astronomical Station opening at Observatory Park in Montville Township to the park system securing firstplace recognition from a nonprofit, public interest organization, to being awarded two grants totaling more than $1 million dollars, Geauga Park District, you could say, has had a very good year.
And 2018 is shaping up to be just as good, with the highly anticipated and soon-to-be finished Claridon Woodlands property, formerly the Hyde Kaplan property, a $1.4 million project in Claridon Township set to open in late spring/ early summer.
However, according to the district, trails are slated to open as early as Jan. 2.
“The park will be open this winter for people to hike,” said Chief Naturalist John Kolar. “Claridon Woodlands will have a lodge with a kitchen that can
be reserved. The property also has two lakes. Other amenities include a natural play area, a bouldering wall, a ropes course with a zipline, a (BMX) pump track and a single-track mountain biking trail opening later in the year. We know not everyone is interested in one thing, so we want to give a diversity of features for all our visitors to enjoy.”
Throughout the summer, Kolar expects high volume at the new property. In midAugust, a two-night grand opening affair will take place.
The district’s Nassau Astronomical Station not only drew thousands of visitors since its August opening, but also was honored with a first-place Award of Excellence from the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association, based in Westerville, Ohio, in the Capital Improvement Project Category — $1 Million to $2.5 Million. The district will be presented with the OPRA award on Jan. 30 in Sandusky.
“It’s been a win-win for us since we’ve had the station open,” Kolar said. “Chagrin Valley Astronomical Society hosts events, there are public astronomy nights — the sky’s the limit with that place. We’re also building future partnerships, scheduling trips and conducting tours of the station.
“For our solar eclipse event, over 2,500 people came out. It was crazy and awesome. I wish that would happen every year.”
In mid-November, Geauga Park District received $1.1 million in grants for the protection, conservation and restoration of Geauga County water resources.
Of the funds, $260,765 will go toward the Griswold Creek Watershed (Bessie Benner Metzenbaum Park) to help mitigate flooding and erosion issues downstream, and to Beaver Creek watershed (Bass Lake Preserve) to improve water quality and wildlife habitat.
The rest of the funds, $842,840, will be used for Beaver Creek Stream/Wetland restoration.
Executive Director John Oros said it’s been an exciting year for Geauga Park District, adding that the park system saw record attendance.
“The stream restoration grant is great. Solutions to correcting these challenges have been on our wish list for a number of years. We’ve been talking about Bass Lake since the early 2000s and Griswold (Creek) since 1991.
“We started with bigger projects in 2016-2017 and now most are in final stages of completion,” he said. “We also have a new property south of Chagrin Falls, the Ellerin Property, consisting of 121 acres. We’ll break ground in April. It will include trails, a shelter and play amenities.”
A new connection also has been made to the existing Maple Highlands Trail on the south side of Claridon Woodlands, said Oros, from Headwaters Park to Swine Creek Reservation.
“The paving of the trail is something different, into Trumbull County, and it’s open to Amish horse and buggy traffic,” he added. “It’s nice to be able to provide transportation in the corridor.
“We’ve had a great year, absolutely, and we’re looking forward to continuing into 2018.”