As summer transitions to fall, some Youngstown State University students still struggle to find activities amidst the coronavirus pandemic. However, socially distanced activities are in plain sight, just 10 minutes away from campus.

Lynn Zocolo, an educator at Mill Creek MetroParks, believes the park has a lot to offer students to decompress from everyday stress.

“I think it becomes a way to connect with nature and to get our visitors introduced to the plant collections, agriculture education and a piece of history,” Zocolo said.

Mill Creek MetroParks, established in 1891 by Youngstown-based lawyer Volney Rogers, offers visitors access to 4,500 acres of nature, activities and Youngstown history, such as Lanterman’s Mill.

“The mill has become an iconic treasure in the park and valley. It is the third mill on that site,” Zocolo said.

The first mill was built and operated from 1789 to 1823. It was replaced in 1825 by a mill with a better frame structure. But less than 20 years later, in 1843, a flood destroyed the second mill. The third mill was built in 1845.

“German Lanterman and Samuel Kimberly replaced the mill but built it up higher to avoid the floodplain, as well as build the foundation into the bedrock,” she said.

The Ward and Florence Beecher Foundations helped restore the mill in 1982. It is still used today to grind buckwheat, wheat and corn for the community.

Additional areas of the park include:

• Fellows Riverside Garden
• James L. Wick, Jr. Recreation Area
• Trails
• Bikeways
• Lakes, ponds and more

Mill Creek MetroParks typically hosts a variety of events within the park. However, these events were canceled due to COVID-19.

Chris Bundy, a recreation manager in the James L. Wick, Jr. Recreation Area, believes students can still make the most of the recreation activities that are currently open. These include two golf courses, a batting cage, tennis, pickleball and sand volleyball courts, as well as baseball and soccer fields.

The MetroParks Farm recently added a disk golf course in Canfield to the recreation area.

“I would say stop into the Wick Recreation area, we have a lot to offer up here,” Bundy said.

Mill Creek took extensive precautions to ensure these activities follow COVID-19 safety guidelines.

“If you were to rent one of our golf clubs or baseball helmets or bats, we sanitize them after every use,” he said.

In their free time, some YSU students took advantage of what the park offers.

Derek Gustovich, a master student in the athletic training program, goes to Mill Creek MetroParks four to five times a week. He tries to relax at the park by only packing light hiking gear, and he explores trails daily for a couple of hours.

“I like nature a lot, so I take the trails and go hiking. Since everything is closed, it’s a place you can go out and do something. I would do a hike and if I’m not pressed for time I would stop by the Lily Pond to relax,” Gustovich said.

Chaste Chapman, a first-year graduate student in the student affairs counseling program, goes two to three times a week. During quarantine, Chapman picked up photography as a hobby while walking alongside Lanterman’s Mill.

“I was out with my sister, and I told her I never went to the park; she has many times. So I figured, why not go? All of the skills that I didn’t have, I decided to work on, and am still working on,” Chapman said.

Zocolo looks forward to the park fully reopening after COVID-19.

“Hopefully, 2021will bring new park adventures for all of us, and we can get all of our facilities back open and running,” Zocolo said.

Full article at thejambar.com

Peering into the Ford Nature Center, it doesn’t look the way patrons may remember.

Exposed wood and brick, with floorways covered with dust, are now the norm as it undergoes redevelopment.

“We’re just excited about it. It’s been a really fast spring and summer as far as work here,” said Chris Litton, director of development for Mill Creek MetroParks.

Asbestos abatement began in February with exterior work starting in June.

On Thursday, Justin Shrader, a laborer with United Contractors Inc. of Brookfield Township, was cutting nails that hold floor joists in the basement of the stone mansion, which was built in 1913.

Shrader explained that new support beams will be installed.

A stage house will be repurposed from storage into an education building with a classroom.

Also included in the plans are smaller educational spaces, a rooftop garden, exhibits and a gift shop.

The interior work should be done in about a year.

“This time next year we should be wrapping up and putting the finishing touches on the inside,” Litton said.

Work is being completed in phases for the $3 million Ford Nature Center Redevelopment Project.

Funds are still being raised, Litton said.

Most of the money generated has come from more than 130 “everyday donors,” while larger donations from the Ward Beecher family, Finnegan family and Youngstown Foundation have been gifted to help the project.

Much of the money for the redevelopment was raised at once, and then things plateaued prior to work starting.

As work has progressed, interest in the project has been sparked again, Litton said.

Donors have been inquiring about how the process is moving along, he said.

A collection of photos taken by administration and crews is updated regularly on the park website, millcreekmetroparks.org. Scroll down to “Ford Nature Center.”

Donated to the park in 1968, the Ford Nature Center opened as the headquarters for nature education in 1974.

Since the beginning of work this year, programs normally held at the center have been shifted elsewhere in the park district, while equipment, animals and paperwork have been placed at off-site locations.

Full article at vindy.com

Several improvements have been made at Mill Creek Park.

One is at the most visited site in the park, the Lily Pond.

The installation of a new restroom is now complete, which is a permanent building that can be used year-round.

The project was paid for by a grant through ODNR.

Work has also begun on the interior demo on the Ford Nature Center.

The parking lot at the Flats near the Cinderella Bridge is back open and the improvement project is now complete

Full article at wkbn.com

Mill Creek MetroParks is accepting proposals to farm its land in Canfield.

It is 140 acres located around the MetroParks’ offices on Route 46, across from the fairgrounds.

The current lease with Less and Less Farms expires this year.

Executive Director Aaron Young says other farmers have expressed interest in the lease, so they decided to seek other proposals. They’re due by noon on Sept. 28.

Proposals must include:

• A completed farm lease agreement, including proposed price per acre
• A copy of the required insurance certificates (see lease agreement)
• A copy of a current worker’s compensation certificate
• A completed statement of qualifications, including farming education, experience, certifications, training and memberships
• A completed list of all farm equipment owned/leased by the submitting party
• A list of three references from property owners who have leased farming rights to the submitting party
• A list of all acreage to be farmed in addition to the MetroParks Farm during the same time period

For a copy of the required lease agreement form, contact Young at 330-702-3000 or aaron@millcreekmetroparks.org.

Full article at wkbn.com

Mill Creek MetroParks leadership is asking patrons to follow road or trail closures — not because they simply say so, but because it’s a matter of safety.

“There’s reasons why there are certain places in certain parts you can’t be at,” James Willock, the park district’s police chief, said.

One area in particular that people seem to ignore the warnings is on East Newport Drive, where the road is closed to all traffic due to a significant slope toward the lake.

Once park maintenance crews observed asphalt cracking earlier this year, they took the issue to the planning department for further consideration.

The road has been closed all summer, said MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young, because an engineering firm is measuring the rate at which the slope is growing.

Samer Awadallah, a project engineer with CT Consultants, explained that the company hired the structural engineering firm SME of the Columbus area to investigate what is causing the slope.

“They went to the site and found it appears to be continuous movement,” Awadallah said.

SME drilled to bedrock, installing a device to monitor the shifting over a period of time.

As the firm continues to study what is causing the road’s sloping behavior, Awadallah said a recommendation for a solution will be presented to the park administration, which would include cost and a timeline of when work can be completed — something Young is hopeful can be done in 2021.

When the cracks in the pavement first were noticed, Awadallah and Young said they measured just about 4 inches, and as of right now the slope at its steepest is just over 4 feet, Young said.

Awadallah said that previously, the park replaced the pavement when cracking in the area appeared, but “it did not work out,” adding: “It’s more critical.”

Also critical is signage at the road closure, and people staying away from the area.

“It’s really important staying away from there. … It’s not stable. Anything that’s not stable you should not be right by it. As much as you can, stay away from it,” Awadallah said.

There are signs that announce the closure. Earlier in the season, there was more of a warning sign, but Willock said someone took it.

“There was one (sign) on each end,” he said.

Other closures in the park system also are experiencing people not following the notices.

The Canfield bikeway was closed between state Route 446 and Herbert Road as it saw repairs starting Aug. 10, with walkers and bicyclists moving barricades and signs to walk through the construction site.

That poses a safety hazard to the park patrons, Young said, as well as to the construction workers who also have to keep an eye out for others when the area is closed.

In the last two months, Willock said people have moved barricades at the area known as “the flats” for ongoing improvement projects that closed the section for parking.

“We had fresh paint, fresh concrete… People move (the barricades) and go right in there” to park their vehicles, he said.

As a result one morning, Willock said the crews had to wait until the people came back to their cars and left, which pushed the work back a day.

To help with the issue of people going beyond closure signs, Willock said he’s had to take his already smaller staff of five to six officers to sit for hours at places such as East Newport Drive, when they should be checking other parts of the county that have satellite parks.

Besides areas being closed for safety and scheduling, if a person falls or gets injured, it might take awhile before emergency personnel are notified and make it to the scene, Willock said, especially as is the case on Newport.

“It’s a dangerous area. That area could fly downhill any time,” he said.

afox@tribtoday.com

Full article at vindy.com