The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Projects highlight centennial year
Cleveland Metroparks’ centennial marked a year of substantial investment, with several capital projects in 2017.
Projects included Euclid Beach Pier, Brecksville Trailside Program Center, Coast Guard Station Restoration and the second phase of its Seneca Golf Course in Broadview Heights. Cleveland Metroparks is anticipating a 2018 timeline for completion of many of its projects.
Like other local park districts, Cleveland Metroparks enjoyed large visitation volume in 2017, which is no surprise to CEO Brian Zimmerman.
“We’re the oldest (park) district in Ohio,” he said. “In 2017, in addition to our larger projects, we focused on key areas like the A.B. Williams Park Memorial Woods.”
The area is located in North Chagrin Reservation in Mayfield Village, Willoughby Hills and Gates Mills. It is named for the Metroparks’ first naturalist.
“We wanted to pay homage to one of the first education pioneers the district had,” Zimmerman said.
Restoration of the district’s Stinchcomb-Groth Memorial
at the Rocky River Reservation was also completed this year. The memorial, a 30-foot cinder block and sandstone tower, was originally dedicated in 1958 in honor of the first two directors of Cleveland Metroparks, William Stinchcomb and Harold Groth. According to the district, the two were responsible for establishing 18,000 acres of parkland and 84 miles of parkway.
Colloquially referred to as the “Emerald Necklace,” the Cleveland Metroparks spans over 23,000 acres on 18 reservations, with more than 300 hundred miles of trails for walking, hiking, biking and horseback riding.
In addition, the network also boasts eight golf
courses, eight lakefront parks, numerous picnic areas, nature education centers, a nationally-recognized zoo and even its own riverfront restaurant, Merwin’s Wharf, located on the Cuyahoga River’s Irishtown Bend in the Flats.
The park district in 2017 also acquired 171 acres in eight reservations and communities, and draws over 18 million visitors annually, with 615,000 attending education programs in 2018.
“Our fireworks at Edgewater, where we’ve also completed the Beach House, drew 30,000 people,” said Zimmerman. “It was also a celebration of our connection to Lake Erie.”
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo also saw an increase in visitation by more than three percent. The zoo’s rebrand, or “renaissance” as Zimmerman describes it, also increased awareness
of wildlife conservation by almost 40 percent.
“Our Asian Highlands (exhibit), which broke ground earlier this year, will be opening in the spring,” he said. “We’re moving some animals into wilderness-thick areas, and will also have giraffe space, a tiger exhibit and new events.”
Cleveland Metroparks also will work in all of its communities to improve hiking and walking trails in the new year.
Zimmerman believes the district’s legacy has been strengthened not only by what it’s accomplished, but what it will deliver in the future.
“We’re putting 70,000 acres of greenspace between the Northeast Ohio communities,” he said. “We also have a health and wellness connection to our communities and they hold a place in our hearts.”