Quarry Trails Metro Park to open by mid-october
Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks plans to open less than half of the new Quarry Trails Metro Park by mid-october.
Larry Peck, Metro Parks deputy director, said the plan is to have 60 to 100 acres of the park open to the public then. Quarry Trails, the system's 20th park, will ultimately be 220 acres.
Among the features will be a mountain bike trail that measures more than a mile, and a 25-foot waterfall that the public can access via a limestone staircase, Metro Parks spokeswoman Peg Hanley said.
Those who want to kayak, paddleboard and fish can visit two lakes at the southern part of the park, she said. Trails also will be open around the lakes.
A dog park and a sledding hill will open with later phases of the park, Hanley said.
There also will be a 166-foot-tall quarry wall where visitors will be able to rock climb and rappel, and some of the old quarry roads will be used for multiuse trails.
Earlier this week, the Metro Parks board authorized an $822,207 contract with Setterlin Building Company of Columbus' West Side for a restroom and plaza at the park.
The park is part of 600 acres west of the Scioto River, north of Trabue Road and east of Dublin Road. Thrive Companies, formerly Wagenbrenner Development, is spending $650 million on a project within the site that ultimately will have more than 1,000 apartments plus 317 townhomes/flats and 289 freestanding condominiums.
The development also will have 43,000 square feet of office space and 16,000 square feet of retail space, plus a community center and pool.
Half of the property remains a working limestone quarry operated by the Shelly Company. mferench@dispatch.com @Markferenchik