Outside media coverage of Mill Creek MetroParks

Mill Creek Metroparks announce capital improvement plan

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Upgrades and advancements are coming to several locations throughout Mill Creek Metroparks in 2025.

From bridge and trail improvements to the golf course and nature reserve restoration projects, Mill Creek officials explained where funds will go during Monday’s monthly meeting with the park board.

“We try to target various facilities and various areas with each year’s budget,” explained Justin Rogers, Director of Planning and Operations with Mill Creek Metroparks.

$480k will go towards bridge improvements to locations including the Slippery Rock Bridge, all to preserve its history and functionality. The majority of the funding is from a federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant.

Trails throughout the park will receive $225k, with Vickers Nature Preserve and the MetroParks Bikeway the main focus. $50k will go towards facility renovations to Vickers Nature Preserve, Bears Den Operations Service Facility, and Birch Hill Cabin. $100k will go towards upgrading restroom facilities throughout the park.

$262k will be spent at Mill Creek Golf Course, restoring stream tributary channels and improving stormwater drainage. The majority of that price tag will be paid for by an Ohio EPA grant.

Vickers Nature Preserve will see a new pavilion and a revamp of the space.

“It’ll be an indoor-outdoor, four-season event center with a banquet hall, kitchen restrooms and amenities,” Rogers said. “This year, we’re proposing site improvements.”

$2.1 million is going towards Fellows Riverside Gardens, to redevelop the building’s lower terrace, improve HVAC and stormwater drainage, and repair the fountain and rose gardens. Plus, the site of the future children’s garden is ready to be transformed.

“We will be going out for public bid soon for that project and throughout 2025, we’ll be working on getting that constructed and opened later on this year,” Rogers added. “So we’re really excited about that project.”

The Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary is getting more than $200k towards site accessibility and habitat improvements, along with adding a new education pavilion.

“It’s our goal to restore, add habitat, and address some of the stormwater management matters on the golf course,” Rogers added.

 

Read the original article at WFMJ.

‘Banner year’ for capital improvements at Mill Creek MetroParks

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Justin Rogers, Mill Creek MetroParks planning and operations director, gave a review of 2024 capital improvements at the MetroParks meeting earlier this week at the Davis Center at Fellows Riverside Gardens.

“It was another banner year on top of the one last year. So we are excited,” Rogers told the park commissioners at the end of his presentation. He said the projects followed the MetroParks Master Plan, which extends out four to six years.

Among the bigger projects were road improvements, which had a budget of $350,000 for the year. Of the total, $107,367 came from Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Parks & Recreation Association funds.

He said three roads were resurfaced — Valley Drive from the Suspension Bridge to High Drive, all of Cohasset Drive and all of Lily Pond Drive.

Another $350,000 was budgeted for annual parking lot improvements, which were focused on the Mill Creek South Golf Course, including stormwater improvements, resurfacing and curbing. Some planting will be addressed later, Rogers said.

Improvements also were made to the asphalt at the MetroParks Farm, including seal coating, crack filling and pavement markings.

Annual trail improvements were budgeted for $250,000 this year and included the West Newport area of Mill Creek Park, about a quarter of a mile of improvements to equestrian trails at the Vickers Nature Preserve and a continuation of resurfacing of the MetroParks Bikeway (Kirk Road up to New Road), Rogers said.

There was $100,000 budgeted for annual pavilion/structure improvements, and they included upgrades to the stables, office and pavilion at Vickers Nature Preserve. Other projects under that category were replacement of the roof at the Par 3 golf course building at the Wick Recreation Area and the roof at the batting cages. Also last year were roof repairs or replacements at Lanterman’s Mill, the Morley Pavilion and golf course fieldhouse, Slippery Rock Pavilion and the park district administration office.

On $11,000 of endowment funds were used for new native plantings at the Mill Creek Golf Course near parking areas, as well as improvements to landscape areas.

At Lanterman’s Mill, using $11,000 of mill endowment funds, landscape improvements were made, and there will be repairs to sections of the mill’s roof, Rogers said.

Recently awarded was a contract to carry out $625,000 worth of improvements to Vickers Nature Preserve, including construction of a new indoor/outdoor four-season pavilion, trail improvements and native plantings.

“It will have open space for tables and chairs, rentals and programs there, kitchen, restroom,” Rogers said of the pavilion.

Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary Expansion Improvements are part of a $200,000 project to expand the sanctuary. Seventy five percent of the funding came through a Clean Ohio Conservation Fund grant, he said.

The project will result in improvements to the entry-drive parking area, trail improvements and habitat improvements. They include ecological restoration in the form of a prairie, planting native species,” Rogers said. The design is being completed for a 30-acre wetland restoration project, he added.

Under a budget of $20,000 are improvements to Collier Preserve, including habitat and site improvements, vegetative and invasive species control and accessibility improvements.

At Fellows Riverside Gardens, a $316,000 budget was set for improvements the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, upgrades and other work the Davis Education & Visitor’s Center, replacement roses throughout the rose garden; replacement of plantings at the labyrinth garden, resetting the bluestone trails, new vegetation, resetting pavers and steps throughout different areas, resetting the patio plaza around the gazebo and new planter boxes and painting, he said.

Some of that work continues into 2025, and $116,000 of the funding was from endowment funds. All of the parking-lot islands were planted this year, he said. The existing restroom in the parking lot was improved to make it a four-season restroom, and it will help with the Children’s Garden to be constructed in 2025.

The Wick Recreation Recreation Center opened this year and was “well received with a lot of rentals and concessions, ” he said. “Our recreation staff has been working out of (the center) team shop to facilitate a lot of our sports programs at the Wick Recreation Area,” Rogers said.

The cross country course at the MetroParks Farm opened in September, and it hosted two YSU meets right away that brought in college and high school athletes, he said. The 2027 Horizon League championship meet will be held there.

There were three new restroom projects completed this year, one at the golf course, one at the Newport Wetlands and one at East Golf Drive near Shields Road. Hawkins Marsh got trail improvements and invasive-plant treatment. The Children’s Garden design plans are nearly complete for Fellows Riverside Gardens, and bidding is expected in January, he said.

The park district’s Healthy Streams initiative that began in 2005 has continued to clear blockages in waterways “to allow it to function naturally and access the flood plain,” he said. The fish-stocking program continued in five places. And treatment of Hemlock Wolly Adelgid, Beech Leaf Disease and treatment of Lake Newport algae continued this year.

New sand was brought in for the sand volleyball courts along the Lily Pond, and new kayak racks were installed at the Newport Boat House. Pickleball courts were created at Volney and Yellow Creek Park, he said.

Rogers’ presentation is available at www.millcreekmetroparks.org/informative-presentations

 

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

 

A look inside how Lanterman’s Mill still operates in Youngstown’s Mill Creek MetroParks

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In 2025, the staff at Lanterman’s Mill in Youngstown are set to celebrate major anniversaries in the mill’s history.

Throughout its hundred-year history, the property at Mill Creek Gorge has been an operational sawmill, gristmill, popular swimming spot and nature museum.

In 1974, Lanterman’s Mill entered the National Register of Historic Places in the U.S.

For Lanterman’s Mill, 2025 marks two major milestones: 180 years since the current mill was built in 1845 by German Lanterman and 40 years since the mill’s major restoration was completed.

Eric Simione, manager of Lanterman’s Mill in Youngstown, walks through how things work at the still-operational gristmill on Canfield Road in Youngstown.

The beginning of Lanterman’s Mill

Simione said the property’s history started in 1798 when Phineas Hill operated the saw and grist mill along Mill Creek from 1799 to 1822. The natural waterfall, now known as Lanterman’s Falls, was originally owned by John Young, founder of Youngstown.

According to Mill Creek, Young sold the waterfall property to Hill but made him agree to build a sawmill and gristmill on the site within eighteen months of the purchase.

In 1823 another owner, Eli Baldwin, took over the property and built the second mill.

“That previous mill was washed away in a flood,” said Simione. “The Lanterman’s Mill as we know it was the third mill. It was originally built in 1845-1846 by German Lanterman and his brother-in-law Samuel Kimberly. At the base of this building, the walls are 10 feet thick, so it’s not going to get washed away.”

Inside Lanterman’s Mill, several signs outline the history of the mill. There are a total of five floors of the mill: the large water wheel occupying the bottom floor and an attic on the top.

The mill operated until 1888.

What does a gristmill do?

A gristmill grinds grains into flour using large, heavy millstones powered by water.

“They would package the flour in barrels, which weighed 200 pounds, but the barrel weighed four pounds. So they would stamp and send out 196 pounds of flour in a barrel,” said Simione.

Currently, the Mill Creek MetroParks staff are working on repairing and updating parts of the mill, like sharpening the stones.

The mill is still operational and staff sell bags of freshly-ground flour in the Lanterman’s Mill gift shop. The flour is preservative-free and made using the same method Lanterman designed for the mill back in 1845.

When it was built, Lanterman’s Mill was one of several mills in operation along the Mahoning River.

“It’s special because it’s one of the only ones left,” Simione said. “This is one of only five mills that is still operating. At the time this mill was first functioning, it was one of 17 mills in Mahoning County alone, and so Lanterman did business with a lot of the local farmers. Lanterman also owned a farm in Austintown.”

Step into the past

A lot of the wood inside Lanterman’s Mill is still original, and the wheel weighs about 1,800 pounds.

“The ingenuity of the places all these years later is amazing,” Simione said.

Water from Mill Creek flows inside the building’s basement to the water wheel, which spins and powers the gears, pulleys and belts to grind grains into flour.

“The building is built right into the side of the Mill Creek Gorge,” he said. “Not only do you have the natural rock formations, but you can see and hear a lot of the water seeping in through the cracks and gaps of the rocks.”

“A great part of Youngstown history is that after these kinds of mills in the 1800s, we all know we had the steel mills. You can see there’s a lot of iron deposit, that’s what the orange is from, the iron,” Simione said. “They’d use that later in the 1990s to develop steel.”

During the winter, even when there’s a layer of ice on top of the creek, they’re able to still operate the wheel since it’s insulated from icy conditions.

Swimming spot, museum at Lanterman’s Mill

The mill closed in 1888 and was purchased by Mill Creek MetroParks in 1892.

“We’re fortunate that when this mill closed in 1888 it became park property. Mill Creek Park was established down by the gardens in 1891 and Volney Rogers was slowly purchasing property upstream. In 1892, he bought this mill. If this doesn’t become park property, this would not still be here,” Simione said.

Simione said the waterfall at the then-closed Lanterman’s Mill became a popular summer swimming attraction for locals until it was prohibited in the late 1980s.

“They used the bottom floor as the changing rooms,” he said. “I can’t find any evidence as to whether it was inside or outside, but there was a hot dog stand down here. The proximity to Idora Park made it one of those all-summer hangout. I would guess some of our great-grandparents did swim here.”

The first floor of Lanterman’s Mill transformed in 1933 to the Old Mill Museum by Ernest Vickers who collected the first specimens for the exhibit.

“Originally intended to provide park visitors with a park-centered natural history collection, [Vickers’ collection] quickly began to display artifacts from all over the world,” according to displays in the mill.

More exhibits were added as it expanded into a popular historical museum from 1957 until it closed in 1982.

$600,000 restoration process

Lanterman’s Mill underwent a major restoration, which was funded by the Ward and Florence Beecher Foundations, from 1982 until 1984.

“It reopened in 1985, so next year is a pretty big year for us. We have the 180-year-anniversary of the mill itself in 1845, and the 40-year anniversary of the renovations in 1985,” Simione said.

Dr. Ward B. Flad and Eleanor Beecher Flad gave Mill Creek MetroParks $600,000 for the restoration of Lanterman’s Mill back to the way it was in its original operating days.

“The exterior had a lot of things replaced, and they had to do stonework down by where the wheel is and work on different floors,” Simione said.

To visit Lanterman’s Mill, visitors can park on East Park Drive, located off Canfield Road, then cross Canfield Road to walk down to Lanterman’s Mill and the Covered Bridge.

Lanterman’s Mill is open seasonally, from May through October.

Read the original article at Mahoning Matters.

Holiday traditions thrive at Christmas at the Mill in Mill Creek Park

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For Christmas, Ronin Jenkins, 5, hopes to receive a gift that relies largely on hydraulics, though little lift was needed to place him next to a holiday icon.

“He wishes to get a (Sony) PlayStation 5 and a Mega Cyborg Hand for Christmas,” Ronin’s father, Steven Jenkins, said.

The likes of such a gift slips onto one’s hand like a glove and has mechanical fingers operated with one’s own fingers that can grip objects with enough force to lift them, Steven Jenkins explained.

Beforehand, however, Ronin and older brother, Rook Jenkins, 9, gripped the opportunity to get acquainted and hang out with Santa Claus, who traveled several thousand miles from the North Pole.

After his Mahoning Valley arrival, St. Nick made a two-hour appearance Saturday and Sunday to greet those of all ages who attended the annual Christmas at the Mill family-friendly and holiday-themed event at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Lanterman’s Mill.

Adding to the Jenkins’ early holiday pleasures also was being able to travel from their Indianapolis home to celebrate Thanksgiving at his sister’s Canfield residence, Steven Jenkins said. The elder Jenkins added that he and the rest of the family have yet to solidify their Christmas plans, except to say that the holiday will be spent at their home.

Further contributing to the Christmas spirit for many attendees was the weekend’s weather that consisted of partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 20s.

This year’s gathering featured 21 artisans, food, craft makers, bakers and other new and regular vendors, Eric Simione, mill manager, noted. In addition, a Giving Tree was set up to accept donations of gloves, mittens, hats and scarves, and other winter wear that will benefit the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, he said.

Among the regulars at this year’s festive event were Scott Lanz, who runs LanzScape Photography Ltd., and Bob Barko Jr., a fine graphic artist with Youngstown-based Steel Town Studios.

First-timers included Pat Ivan, who owns Woodswalker Designs of Leetonia, a 3-year-old business that sells merchandise based largely on wildlife photography pieces that her husband, John Ivan and son, Colton Ivan, snapped. Such items include frames, buttons, handmade twig prints, magnets, pillows, ornaments from birdseed and logs with suet, Pat Ivan said.

Being part of Christmas at the Mill meant more to Pat Ivan than merely selling holiday items, though. It also allowed her to fondly remember time spent there with her late mother, she added.

“I used to come with my mom, so being a vendor here makes it even more special,” she said, adding, “I’ve spent a lot of time at Mill Creek Park.”

Additional products for sale in the mill included colorful, decorative and elaborately-designed wreaths, scented lotions and soaps, ornaments and wooden Christmas artwork.

Of course, no Christmas at the Mill gathering would be complete without Ray Novotny, park naturalist emeritus, who braved the cold both days to roast chestnuts on an open fire and grill. Lending him a helpful holiday hand was Emily Greve, a park educator.

Fronting a growing line to receive their own chestnuts Saturday was Kristina Sinegal of Poland, who came Saturday with her boyfriend, Jeff Radaker.

“I come every year. It’s like one of the first events to get me in the Christmas spirit,” Sinegal said.

She and Radaker plan to attend a variety of additional local holiday-flavored gatherings, perhaps the largest of which will be the annual parade in downtown Youngstown, set to get underway at 4 p.m. Friday. It also will include a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony following the parade.

In addition, Saturday’s festivities included Tyler Guerrieri of Struthers, who played solo instrumental renditions on his electric guitar of several well-known Christmas carols, such as “Frosty the Snowman.”

Many children and adults also gathered in the mill to take in further entertainment, courtesy of Joe Sullivan, fondly known as “The Balloon Guy.” With a series of seemingly effortless twists and turns, Sullivan crafted animals and other figures with little more than balloon and breath.

Christmas at the Mill debuted in 1986, with the intention of bringing added holiday joy and cheer to the community, Simione said.

 

Read the original article at the Vindicator.

Golf program at Mill Creek course provides instruction, fellowship for veterans

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Valley veterans can bond and heal through golf. A special program shows care and respect for vets — a program that’s par for the course.

The PGA HOPE program teaches veterans to play golf or play it better. It’s six weeks of instruction at the Mill Creek Park Golf Course.

“This game is a relaxing game. It’s supposed to be a relaxing game in the first place so when you get out here with a couple other veterans, you look around and say, ‘You know? Man, does it get any better than this?’” said Keith Burke, of Niles.

This fall’s group includes 41 golfers, ages 20 to 92.

It’s the fifth year for PGA HOPE, which stands for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere.

“Listening to them tell stories or kind of, like, dig at each other — Marines versus Navy, Army and all that — it’s fun,” said Stacie Butler, one of the four PGA professional instructors.

Dave Boos, a veteran himself, is another instructor. He’s helping other veterans learn to play better.

“Loads of information in my head and I love passing it along,” Boos said.

The session on Tuesday dealt with bunker play and the longer they practiced, the more hope emerged in their swings.

“Most of us aren’t that good but we’re trying to get better, and this program is something that has definitely helped me get better,” said Andrew Martino, of Boardman.

PGA HOPE recognizes the importance of veterans to get out and interact with each other. It also gives them an opportunity to be together as a group, find new playing partners and become better golfers.

“We teach a lot of cause and effect of, ‘Hey, the ball went to the right. What do I have to do on the next one to make it go straight or get in play?’ But giving people opportunities is what we’re here for,” said Brian Tolnar, another PGA professional.

PGA HOPE is done twice a year. The group of veterans who completed the course earlier this year was made up of all women.

 

Read the original article at WKBN.

 

Local artist displays work in Mill Creek Park

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A local artist is having her work displayed inside the Davis Center at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellow Riverside Gardens.

The exhibit in the Weller Gallery marks Diane Beatty’s 10th anniversary of capturing photos. It features images of the Valley and familiar nearby places from each year of her career. It even includes photos from the explosion of the Realty building in May.

For Beatty, the exhibit is a career milestone.

“This is just the beginning. As long as I can take a breath, I’ll have the camera in hand and be going somewhere and finding something pretty awesome to photograph,” she said.

The free exhibit will be on display til Jan. 5.

 

Read the original article at WKBN.

Thousands of people enjoy 500 pumpkins on Mill Creek Park nighttime walk

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They say a cat has nine lives, though it took less than nine minutes for a smile to cross then cover 11-year-old Lillian Schindler’s face.

“It’s one of her favorite days,” Lillian’s mother, Barbara Bratton of Girard, said.

Bratton was referring to Halloween, and her daughter’s facial expression and body language told the story of someone who was quite pleased with the creativity evidenced on her pumpkin as she knelt next to it.

On Saturday, Lillian carved the pumpkin, with heart-shaped eyes and a cat-like appearance, at a gathering in a tent next to Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens.

The popular botanical gardens also was the site for the annual Pumpkin Walk at Twilight event Sunday, which drew thousands of people of all ages to see numerous rows of pumpkins of varying sizes on display. Ideal weather likely contributed to the steady flow of attendees.

An estimated 500 carved jack-o-lanterns, which were lit close to dusk, lined several paths through the gardens, Lynn Zocolo, a Mill Creek MetroParks educator, said.

When it came to Halloween preparations, Lillian had shown no hint of procrastination. About nine months ago, the girl had her costume, which depicted Nezuko Kamado, a popular fictional character in the “Demon Slayer” series, said Bratton, who also came with her son, Andrew, 5, and daughter Stella, 7.

Curiosity may not have killed the cat, but it did seem to be the dominant expression Achilles Bennett, 1, of Youngstown, displayed at one point as he stood and looked at a row of brightly lit pumpkins along a paved path.

“I have four kids and I like to bring them every year,” Achilles’ father, Jacob Bennett, said.

For this family, Halloween likely will consist of traditional fare, with the kids engaging in a bit of trick-or-treating, Bennett added.

Zocolo said that Cardinal Mooney and Poland Seminary high school art students, along with some at Lordstown Elementary School, painted and carved the pumpkins ahead of Sunday’s family-friendly walk.

Nearly 300 carvers, a figure on par with last year, spent part of Saturday engaged in that activity, Zocolo added.

“The weather definitely helps (the attendance). It rained last year, but thousands of people still came,” Jaime Yohman, the park’s community engagement director, said.

The pumpkins, which arrived at the park last week, likely will be displayed for a few more days, she added.

Sunday’s festivities also included a professional carver, arts and crafts for children in the nearby Cushwa Education building, a photo booth and treats, courtesy of Kravitz Deli in the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center.

Providing the entertainment in the gazebo was the Shoe Shine Band, which offered its version of oldies tunes.

In addition, a Scarecrow Row was set up along one of the paths with 33 scarecrows, all of which local organizations and agencies decorated. Plans are to add more of them next year, Yohman said, adding that they will be up until Oct. 31.

The pumpkins for Sunday’s funfest were courtesy of a lease agreement the park has with Less & Less Farm in Canfield, she said.

 

 

Read the original article at The Vindicator.

Parts of Mill Creek MetroPark will be closed to public on Saturday, Sunday

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Saturday is expected to be a beautiful last day of summer. However, some may need to change plans to enjoy if your plans include some parts of Mill Creek Park.

A cross-country event will take place at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield on Saturday.

During the event, public access to the following MetroParks Farm facilities will be prohibited from dawn to mid-afternoon:

  • MetroParks Bikeway (closed between Leffingwell Road and Route 446)
  • MetroParks Farm Parking Lot
  • MetroParks Farm Bikeway Spur Trail
  • Disc Golf Courses
  • Mindy Henning Hiking Trail
  • Animal Barns
  • Archery Range
  • Natural Playground
  • Recycling Area

Parking lot access will be for cross-country, event-related personnel and private rentals only.

On Sunday, the first day of fall, some roads in the park will be closed for vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians from 6 am to 1:30 pm for the Youngstown Half Marathon and Relay, 5K, and Kids Fun Run.

Closed roads will include:

  • East Cohasset Drive
  • Cascade Road
  • West Valley Drive
  • East Park Drive
  • Old Mill Drive
  • East Newport Drive
  • Kreider’s Entrance
  • West Newport Drive
  • East Golf Drive & parking areas both at Route 224 and Shields Road
  • West Golf Drive from the Mill Creek Golf Course Parking Lot north to Shields Road
  • Lanterman’s Mill

 

 

Read the original article at WFMJ.

Wick Recreation Center Reopens to Public after $1.5M Makeover

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After receiving a $1.5 million makeover, the Wick Recreation Center building in Mill Creek Park has reopened and will serve the public for the first time in about two decades.

The building, constructed in 1961, is in the park’s popular Wick Recreation Area on the West Side. The area is also the home of Morley Pavilion for performing arts, a par-3 golf course, a splash pad, batting cages, tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, soccer and baseball fields, a children’s playground and a sled riding hill.

The building was formerly the warming house for the ice rink that was once behind it. The rink closed in 2010 and has since been replaced by a Dek hockey rink that gets a lot of use, according to Jamie Yohman, the park’s spokeswoman.

The new Wick Recreation Center building “is another prime example of what we can offer the public on a regional scale,” said Justin Rogers, director of planning and operations for Mill Creek Park, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning. “We have always promoted Wick Recreation Area as our regionally significant active-recreation space, and this building will serve as its hub and support all activities that go on here.”

The building now “mirrors and matches” other park buildings, Rogers said.

The renovation of the Wick Recreation Center building took two years, with the work done by Declan Construction of Brookfield. The project was funded entirely through Mill Creek MetroParks’ general fund.

The building has several new features that cater to the public:

  • A pro shop that sells and rents equipment for golf, hockey and other games that can be played in the park. It also sells the park system’s licensed apparel.
  • A snack bar, with sales windows that face both an interior hallway and an outdoor covered patio. An outside company will be contracted by the park to operate the snack bar, which will offer pizza, hot dogs, beverages and other items.
  • A banquet room that can be rented for parties. The room’s signature features are a fireplace and a wall of windows that overlook the hockey rink.

The building also has rest rooms for the public and park administrative offices.

The structure had been closed to the public since the early 2000s and used mainly for storage, Yohman said.

The Wick Recreation Center building is the second upgrade of an existing structure in the park in as many years. The Ford Nature Center reopened in 2023 after a three-year, $4 million renovation.

The park last year also opened a new indoor golf player development center with digital simulators.

 

Read the original article at The Business Journal.

Mill Creek Park opens new recreation center featuring patio, playground, splash pad

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Mill Creek MetroParks is celebrating a grand opening Thursday.

At 10 a.m., it held a ribbon cutting for the brand-new Wick Recreation Center.

The building was already there but the park made some major upgrades using $1.5 million from its general fund.

There’s a concession stand with a patio, and a place to buy Mill Creek merchandise and rent sporting equipment.

Inside, there’s a community room for rentals.

It’s also the perfect spot to enjoy outdoor activities.

“It offers multiple recreational activities such as deck hockey, soccer, baseball, tennis, batting cages. We have playgrounds and splash pads, all available for use by the community,” said Jaime Yohman, community engagement director.

It’s a good thing the new Wick Recreation Center is open year-round because it’s located right next to the sledding hill.

 

Read the original article at WKBN.