If kayaking is your way of enjoying the warm days, you have a new spot to check out in Mill Creek MetroParks.

The East Newport Boat Launch is officially open. The dock has been replaced with floating plastic docks, a non-slip ramp, a double stainless steel railing and a new observation deck with built-in benches.

New metal kayak racks have been installed as well. A few people were out Monday checking out the new facility, and it should be even more popular this summer.

Full article at wkbn.com

Photographs from amateur photographers will be on display from Saturday (Feb. 15) through April 12 during the annual Nature Photography Exhibit in the Weller Gallery in the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens, 123 McKinley Ave.

The free exhibit offers visitors an opportunity to view landscapes, wild animals, Mill Creek MetroParks scenes and more through the lens of the photographers during normal operating hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays.

A session to meet the photographers will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 23.

For information on the exhibit, call Fellows Riverside Gardens at 330-740-7116.

Full article at mahoningmatters.com

Today marks the end of an era for Mill Creek MetroParks and its planning and operations director Steve Avery.

After 31 years with the park, Avery is retiring.

“I’m blessed I could be at one place for that long for one career,” Avery said.

His story began more than 35 years ago, when he attended The Ohio State University, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture.

Working in Columbus for one year, he then progressed to the city of Cleveland.

In 1989, Avery saw a job posting at Mill Creek Park and decided to apply. “It appealed to me to work in a park district,” he said.

The advancement, as he called it, wasn’t just a planning position, but also a challenge.

“They knew they wanted an on-staff landscape architect to direct. They picked me. Next thing you know, 31 years went by,” Avery said.

Avery grew up in Hinckley Township in Medina County. Growing up, he said his family rented a house in the park district there, so the idea to work in a park was attractive.

There are several milestone projects sprinkled throughout Avery’s career.

“Every achievement is so unique. We’ve had some really awesome projects,” he said, adding that while the projects weren’t necessarily costly, they were one-of-a-kind, which “really made them special.”

The bikeway spanning across Mahoning County is one memory Avery looks back on fondly.

“It was an old abandoned rail line that ran across the county,” he said. Although the trail isn’t exactly inside Mill Creek Park, it still gives people a reason to visit the area.

The Kirk Road Trailhead project was another highlight Avery mentioned, noting the abandonded county engineer outpost facility was redeveloped when it was given to the MetroParks.

“Mahoning Avenue is five lanes of traffic there, so (bicyclists) had to cross five lanes which was difficult depending on the time of day,” he recalled. Through federal funding, an overpass was built, allowing people on bikes or runners/walkers to contine on their way without the worry of rush hour traffic.

“Major rehabilitation” on the silver suspension bridge, more commonly known as “The Cinderella Bridge” is another milestone of which Avery is proud.

“When you’re working on an 1890s structure, there’s lots of care that goes to it, keeping it looking as good but also improving it,” he said.

Another “really satisfying and exciting project” was adding a floating boardwalk to the back portion of the Lily Pond.

In his new role as retiree, Avery said he “plans on doing a number of things,” such as devoting a little more time to nonprofits he’s involved with, as well as preparing for his fifth grandchild.

He is also looking forward to helping his son, a pastor of a small church. “I’ll be able to devote more time to taking care of the grounds,” he said.

Still, he doesn’t want to jump right into work after retirement. Avery hopes to rest a little, saying he knows he has some items to cross off the “honey-do” list.

Laughing, he said he has “1,001 projects at home.”

Full article at vindy.com

As 2020 ramps up, Mill Creek MetroParks’ Ford Nature Center will be going on hiatus.

Expected to be closed for two years beginning Feb. 1 for the Ford Nature Center Redevelopment Project, the building will undergo a series of makeovers totaling about $3 million.

“As a kindergartner in 1974, I remember a class trip there,” said Chris Litton, director of development for Mill Creek MetroParks. “My second day on the job in 2017. … It was deja vu. The center didn’t change in all those years,” he said.

Built in 1913, the stone mansion sits in the northern portion of Mill Creek Park at 840 Old Furnace Road. Donated to the park in 1968, it opened as the headquarters for nature education in 1974. About 18 months ago, park officials identified that the building was “in dire need” of a makeover, said Aaron Young, executive director of the park’s board.

“Only a few minor upgrades” have taken place since 1974, Young said.

Removal of equipment and paperwork inside the center will take up February and part of March, planning director Steve Avery said.

Items that will need to head to storage may be placed in off-site locations or a pod that will be kept on site. Employees will be going through files from the last several decades.

After the cleanup, Avery said abatement of hazardous materials will take place.

In 2017, a hazardous-material sampling was completed. Lead paint was found, along with a small amount of asbestos in old plaster. The amount of asbestos is “extremely low” Avery said.

Once the center is closed to the public, the programs hosted at the building will be

conducted elsewhere in the park district, Avery explained.

DLR Group of Cleveland helped develop renderings for the new vision of the center, Avery said.

Bids for construction of the project will open in March. Once the job is awarded, Avery said park trustees and project planners anticipate starting the work this year.

A number of existing architectural pieces will be kept and incorporated into the new building design. Woodwork, some cabinets and tile will still have that same “ambiance” of the original building, Avery said. “It’s not like we’re removing 100 percent of everything and only keeping the exterior shell,” he explained, adding that many details from the 1913 version of the house will be preserved.

A garage on the property matches the architectural design of the house, and it hasn’t been used for anything except storage. Once it is refurbished, it will be called the Education Building.

Avery said the three-story building will house a large classroom, smaller educational spaces, a gift shop, rooftop garden, exhibits and gift shop.

A grant is paying for some of the project.

“On Nov. 1, 2018, we received the Challenge Grant from the Sandhill Foundation in California,” Litton said.

The grant is being used to match $1 million in donations the Ford Nature Center expects to receive before the end of the so-far successful campaign.

So far, more than 132 donors have given to the cause. A bulk of the money raised came from “everyday donors,” Litton said. That includes individual donors writing checks or dropping off money while they peruse the center.

Larger donations have been made, too, Litton said.

The Ward Beecher family donated $250,000, along with the Finnegan family. Another large donation totaled $350,000, and the Youngstown Foundation sent $100,000.

“People love the park,” Litton said. “The education center is long overdue for some care and renovation.”

The Ford Nature Center sees more than 40,000 visitors a year, including 15,000 schoolchildren. The mansion housing the center was donated to then-Youngstown Township Park District by the Judge John Ford family.

Full article at vindy.com

Mill Creek MetroParks is temporarily closing the Ford Nature Center beginning Feb. 1 to begin a redevelopment project.

The project is expected to take up to 24 months to complete, with an anticipated reopening schedule of spring or summer 2022.

“We are thrilled to be able to announce the start of such a highly anticipated and critically needed project,” Aaron Young, executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks, said in a news release.

The Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation first launched the capital campaign for the redevelopment of the Ford Nature Center in July 2018. The foundation has raised $2,530,262 toward its $3 million goal and received a $1 million matching challenge grant from the Sand Hill Foundation of Menlo Park, Calif.

Once complete, the project will allow the Ford Nature Center to continue serving the community as a primary resource for nature-based education through the use of 21st-century classrooms, learning labs, exhibits and outdoor environment, according to the news release.

 “We appreciate the support the community has provided through the campaign and look forward to the successful completion of the project,” Young said.

Full article at mahoningmatters.com