The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Parks renovated in time for summer
A handful of parks and recreational areas in Vermilion will see some upgrades just in time for the summer.
Sherod Park, Showse Park and Main Street Beach, along with the Vermilion Community Pool, all will see some renovations and improvements, according to Marc Weisenberger, parks supervisor.
At Sherod Park, visitors can except to see a new play area accompanied with a slide, as well as a one-mile loop trail with new signage for maps and distances of each loop, Weisenberger said.
New grass will be planted, and the Parks and Recreation Department plans to address some drainage issues along the trail.
“There will be a new hillside slide and nature play area,” Weisenberger said. “It’s an addition to our new destination playground that we put in last year.
“We are upgrading the electric service. We’re going from 100 amps to 200 to provide better service for rentals at the shelter house and other events that are going on.”
Fourteen new picnic tables donated by Grace United Methodist Church will be added throughout the park, according to Weisenberger.
The hillside slide also is a donation from a member of the church, he said.
In partnership with the Vermilion Tree Commission, the Parks and Recreation Department received a $25,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Urban Forest to plant 60 trees at Sherod Park and 25 at Showse Park, Weisenberger said.
“We’re just kind of in the early phases of starting to do some planning for some upgrades with Showse, but we did do a few minor things this spring,” he said.
According to Weisenberger, Gary Pongrasz led a group of volunteers in putting new roofs on all four dugouts at the baseball fields at Showse Park with material donated by Carter Lumber.
The parking lot at the park was leveled out and mature trees surrounding the fields were trimmed with the help of ADT Tree and Crane.
The trees were impeding the fields and interfering with games, he said.
“That was the other thing we did out there that was pretty major; we’ve been
“It’s definitely a goal to try to make the parks more enjoyable and offer more activities, but also, the other part is just updated existing facilities.”
— Marc Weisenberger, Vermilion parks supervisor.
wanting to do it for a number of years and finally got it done,” Weisenberger said. “It really made a nice difference out there.”
At the Vermilion Community Pool, two new heaters will be installed for the upcoming season, and eight new aluminum picnic tables will be added and available for rental, Weisenberger said.
Portable steps that helped access in and out of the pool last year will make their return.
Weisenberger said the Parks and Recreation Department has worked on improving the website to make it easier for people to navigate and find necessary information.
“We’ve been working on it for a year now, but this summer, fully start to implement an online registration program called MyRec,” he said. “They can register for any of the programs that our rec department offers and they can purchase their pool memberships there and swimming lessons.
“It’s going to allow us to do a new point of sale system as well.”
Main Street Beach will see some upgrades, including the comfort station, according to Weisenberger.
This new phase involves roadwork and widening Main Street from Huron Street north to the beach for better two-way traffic flow, more parking and overall pedestrian safety.
“It will just make the traffic flow much safer and more pedestrian friendly for sure, and that will also include some new sidewalks as well,” Weisenberger said.
At the very end of Main Street where the road meets the beach, there will be a “plaza area” which will act as a turnaround point with a pick-up and drop-off zone to prevent congestion, he said.
“It will provide ADA access, and some connectivity from the new park, the beach, the new comfort station and restrooms,” Weisenberger said.
While the parks in Vermilion generally are wellused during the season, he said he thinks these improvements will continue to bring people into the parks, mostly based on the positive response from the community.
“It’s definitely a goal to try to make the parks more enjoyable and offer more activities, but also, the other part is just updated existing facilities,” Weisenberger said. “As these improvements are made, I think the usage is definitely going to continue to increase.”