Construction of a new outdoor education center near Fellows Riverside Gardens and repairs to a section of East Newport Drive near the boat launch are among the Mill Creek MetroParks construction projects taking place this summer.

Programs will be held year-round at the building, located at the south end of the parking lot at the gardens. A target date for completing the new building and starting programs is October.

Two of the sides of the building will have retractable glass doors to provide a “pavilion” feel during nice weather. The doors can be closed in colder or wet conditions.

It also will be a “support area” for special events such as the Pumpkin Walk in October or Christmas lights events, Rogers said.

Outdoor site work for the Children’s Garden, which will be around the building, will take place next year. Work began on the $400,000 project about two months ago.

A maintenance building on the site is being removed to make way for the new building.

Meanwhile, on the east side of Lake Newport on East Newport Drive just south of the boat launch, workers have been constructing a retaining wall to address the “slide” of soil that damaged the roadway and caused the MetroParks to close part of the road to the public.

When the retaining wall is complete, then repairs to the road will be made.

A consulting firm did some testing and determined that there was a “slip plane” “that caused this area to shift and slump,” Rogers said.

Consultants developed a couple of solutions and MetroParks officials in January placed the work on the list of 2021 projects. The cost for that project also will be $400,000.

“The wall will be constructed between the road and the lake to stabilize that area. What they are doing is installing vertical steel piles into bedrock and then building the wall up from that to prevent any future slide,” Rogers said.

The steel I-beam piles are spaced eight feet apart with vertical pieces of concrete between them.

Park officials started to notice movement of the soil and asphalt in March 2020 and the issue progressed rapidly, resulting in that part of the road being barricaded in March or April.

“What were cracks became significant fissures and became unsafe,” Rogers said.

Work on the retaining wall began several weeks ago. A few of the piles have been installed so far. Completion of the project is estimated to be in about six weeks.

In another area of the park on East Glacier Drive not far from Fellows Riverside Gardens, officials have noticed some minor soil movement — called sloping — but it is off of the edge of the road and has not required any changes to traffic patterns.

“There’s no cracks in the pavement or anything like that, but we are keeping an eye on it,” he said.

Another project Rogers has worked on this year is the former warming house at the Wick Recreation Area on McCollum Road. It is near the wet and dry playgrounds and tennis courts. The warming house was a maintenance building for a couple of decades.

The MetroParks went out to bid in the spring to have the warming house converted into a banquet facility and rental space with retail space for apparel for tennis, golf and sand volleyball and Dek hockey. It also will have upgraded restrooms.

But the bids came in too high, and the project is expected to be re-bid in October.

The projects this year are similar to most years with projects picked from various categories, such as a road improvement, a bridge, parking lot, trails, recreational facilities.

“We like to have some improvement spread out throughout the MetroParks,” Rogers said.

2021 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS

Mill Creek Metroparks has about $2.9 million in capital improvements planned this year. They include:

• Wick Warming House renovations, $800,000

• Wick Recreation Area Warming House renovations project management, $50,000

• Outdoor Education Center construction, $400,000

• Ford Nature Center exhibit construction, $360,000

• Fellows Riverside Gardens Davis Center repairs, $75,000

• Fellows Riverside Gardens Rose Garden improvements, $35,000

• Lanterman’s Mill site improvements, $10,000

• MetroParks Farm improvements, $14,500

• Golf course improvements, $7,000

• Fuel station upgrades, $135,000

• Annual road improvement design, $35,000

• Annual road improvements, $625,000

• Annual parking lot improvements, $200,000

• Annual trail improvements, $125,000

• Annual signage improvements, $25,000

• Annual pavilion improvements, $25,000

• Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary improvements $20,000

• Millcreek Preserve improvements, $20,000

Full article at The Vindicator

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Mill Creek MetroParks is the place to be, no matter how anxious you are about seeing people — whether you can’t wait to be in crowds again or still want to stay far away.

As everything begins to reopen, some might be having anxiety about doing things with a lot of people around. That’s why going back to nature might be a great solution.

Mill Creek MetroParks has so many fun activities you can do with smaller groups or your loved ones. You can bike, play disc golf, paddle boat, or walk or hike on the trails, which there are over 45 miles of.

Park officials said people were so happy to have the park during COVID, that it’s become a great escape for many even as things have been opening up again.

“The park is just a great place to come because it is outdoors, you’re able to social distance and it’s just a safe environment, and you can kind of gauge how far or how close you want to be to somebody else,” said Jaime Yohman, community engagement director.

If you are ready to do things with other people again, the park has a lot for you to do, too.

You can head over to Live at the Morley, where there will be concerts. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and you can keep as much distance from others as you want.

Mill Creek’s Garden Cafe is open again and Lake Glacier is also a great spot.

“So we are just absolutely thrilled that things are getting back to normal,” Yohman said. “We’re seeing a lot of people out. We saw a lot of people out during the pandemic but even so, now people are just ready to enjoy a little bit of normalcy and to be out and about and enjoy each other’s company.”

If you want to learn more about any of Mill Creek Park’s programs, you can visit its website.

Full article at WYTV

The Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation announced Friday that a one million dollar gift was donated to the MetroParks. The donation was made to the foundation’s Benefactor’s Trust by Brandon J. Kovach.

The Trust supports the care, preservation and enhancement of some of the landmarks within the MetroParks.

According to the announcement, Kovach will be name as the Benefactor of the Lily Pond in Mill Creek Park.

“The Lily Pond has been a favorite destination for Valley residents since 1896. This generous investment will provide long-term support to ensure that locations like the Lily Pond will continue to be a place for visitors to experience the beauty and wonder of the natural world for generations to come,” said Chris Litton, Mill Creek MetroParks Director of Development. “We are extremely grateful to Mr. Kovach for his support and advocacy of the MetroParks.”

The MetroPark’s foundation was created in 1980, and it advances the its mission through fund development.

Full article at wkbn.com

Among the fun things to do in the Wick Recreation Area off McCollum Road in the Mill Creek MetroParks, people would probably list as their favorites walking, using the wet and dry playgrounds, tennis, baseball and soccer areas, batting cages and Par-3 golf.

But next to the colorful Dek hockey rink is a dark, generally ignored building people still call the “warming house” or ice-rink building.

It played a key role when the Wick Recreation Area’s ice rink was next door, providing a fireplace and spot to warm up and get a hot drink.

The ice rink closed around 2002, and the building was converted into a storage space for grass cutting and other equipment.

In 2018, the MetroParks built the Dek hockey rink over the former ice rink, providing the public with a space to play a variation of ice hockey in which the game is played using a ball. Other sports also are played there, including soccer and field hockey.

The MetroParks’ master plan, however, targeted the warming house to be a public recreation center.

The park district went out to bid this month to have a contractor brighten up the building and make other aesthetic and functional changes to the 4,000 square foot structure to turn it into a banquet facility, offices, restrooms and meeting place.

Examples of ways the meeting space might be used for the public is for signups for recreational sports leagues, noted Justin Rogers, planning and operations director for the MetroParks.

The MetroParks built a new storage and maintenance building last year below the Morley Performing Arts Pavilion and is now using it.

The cost to renovate the warming house is $775,000, and the MetroParks hopes to award a contract at the May 10 meeting.

“We’re creating more of a public facility that supports all of the recreational and programatic uses at Wick Recreation Area and provides new opportunities for recreation and rentals,” Rogers said of the former warming house.

“We’re creating a banquet facility, a larger rentable space, improved concessions, a retail space, upgraded restrooms. We will have equipment and apparel for tennis, golf and sand volleyball and Dek hockey, similar to what you would have at the pro shop at our golf course but on a smaller scale,” he said. Mill Creek has two 18-hole golf courses.

“Our recreation department offices will be located in this building and some improved site work, new pedestrian access and landscaping,” he said.

It will have all new utilities, all new finishes inside and a brighter look.

“It will not get bigger. There is a small section for some restrooms, but the site plan is pretty much staying the same,” he said. “This will open it up to four season, year-round use for the public,” Rogers said.

The upgrades should tie the former warming house back into the fun activities that surround the building.

“It’s kind of prime real estate,” Rogers said of the building. “It’s right there and has been completely underutilized. Making it more inviting aesthetically and certainly its functionality is going to bring back the promise it once was when it was the warming house,” he said.

Full article at vindy.com

Many places within Mill Creek MetroParks reopened this week, as activities are being phased in with virus safety protocols.

Aligning with national, state and local health orders, all outdoor-based recreation facilities, education programs, recreation leagues and events are now open.

“We’ve been monitoring our potential reopening for some time,” MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young said, adding the status of vaccinations has been taken into consideration as park administration decided how to reopen the park.

The next round of openings will take place May 1, when all open-air shelters open for reservations.

On May 7, all indoor-related rental facilities, as well as indoor-based education and recreation programs and events, will open. These locations are the MetroParks Farm Education Building, D.D. & Velma Davis Education and Visitors Center, Yellow Creek Lodge, the administration office and Lanterman’s Mill.

SPORTS

On April 1, the North Course at Mill Creek Golf Course reopened, with the South Course following on April 5.

Also at the start of April, the James L. Wick Jr. Recreation Par-3 Golf Course and batting cages in Youngstown opened, along with tennis courts and sand volleyball courts at the Wick Recreation Area.

The phased approach this year was staggered between indoor and outdoor activities, Young said.

Over the course of the last year, many outdoor activities have continued with varying guidelines, while many indoor activities have been canceled.

“We thought if that’s what the governor’s orders are outlined and structured on, and the department of health is recommending outdoor activity is OK, then a systematic reopening plan would take place,” Young said.

OPEN AIR

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, outdoor use of the park system has “skyrocketed,” Young said, carrying into 2021.

“Our evaluation of what we think is the best approach, which is the phased approach, is people are outside. Let’s take a look at our outdoor recreational facilities and then also some of the open-air pavilions,” Young said.

Last year, any reservable and rental property in the park was closed due to the pandemic, as well as any indoor or outdoor facilities. Trails were left open.

“We thought it was best to address an outdoor versus an indoor (facility) right away,” Young said.

Normal schedules of pavilions typically open on May 1, so the park is carrying on pre-pandemic routines handling reservations.

As park facilities open, it is important that people renting the spaces remember they are responsible for their guests. Still, law enforcement will be around patroling as normal.

Rental procedures and program information can be found at reservations.millcreekmetroparks.org .

afox@vindy.com

Full article at vindy.com