New park deck expected next year

Other park plans also in place in city

Residents of Sheffield Lake will have another thing to be excited about as Shell Cove Park will have a completely new observation deck. The deck is coming to Shell Cove Park thanks to help from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

City Superintendent Pat Hastings sent in a grant proposal to revitalize and improve the observation deck at the park, located on Lake Road. The city will receive funding from ODNR through the Coastal Management Assistance Grants program.

According to a letter from James Zehringer, director of ODNR, the project will replace the existing observation deck and add a handicap accessible boardwalk which will increase access to the observation deck.

“These enhancements will significantly improve public access (and safety) at the site, and will highlight Jay Terrell’s 1867 historic discovery of a massive armor-plated fish fossil in the shale deposits at Shell Cove Park,” Zehring wrote. “We look forward to working with the city of Sheffield Lake to manage and protect our Lake Erie coastal resources.”

In the project summary it states the existing deck, which was built in 1987, will be demolished; there will be construction of an 18 by 28 elevated observation deck including safety rails, construction of an attached boardwalk and structure stabilization.

The project summary sheet said the estimated completion date of the project is May 31, 2017.

During a park board meeting Sept. 26, Mayor Dennis Bring reported that the pump track is coming to a close, but two grind rails will be coming to Ferndale Park. He also reported on some of the other parks in the city.

“The improvements for Erie Shore Park as far as the bicycle equipment, we do have the sign, we have the stands and the racks,” Bring said in the meeting minutes. “I am just waiting for the poles and in the meantime, we poured a concrete pad and we should be very unique in Sheffield Lake. It is a fantastic addition and ironically part of the Mast Plan I read. I have even shared that information with the county on the Lakefront Initiative grant that the city is involved and they seem very interested as well.”

He added that it might be the spearhead of something to match all the way down the 23 miles along in Lorain County.