By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green will soon get a walk through the park master plan. When the city planning commission meets next month, it will schedule a hearing for the park plan in January.
The master plan was completed after a series of public forums was held earlier this year to collect community input on the parks.
Park and Recreation Director Kristin Otley has described the five-year master plan as a “living, breathing, fluid document.” The goal is to “focus on maintaining and taking care of our parks, programs and facilities, while being aware and open to new opportunities,” she said.
The plan identifies needs at the 11 parks, at all the buildings, and with the programs. Some of the bigger, more visible projects include a renovated or new Veterans Building in City Park, a completed trail from the community center to the middle-high school complex, and a speed slide at the aquatics center.
ADA issues will continue to be addressed in all the parks and facilities. Lighting upgrades will be made where necessary, and rental policies will be reviewed. Efforts will be made to upgrade online registration, create a land acquisition policy, and create a book of donation opportunities.
The parks and recreation board on Tuesday also heard updates on the Zombie Mud Run planned Sunday at noon in the new obstacle course by the community center. As of Tuesday evening, 135 people had signed up for the event, with ages ranging from 5 to 74.
Ivan Kovacevic, recreation coordinator, said modifications may be made to wet areas of the course if the weather is chilly on Sunday. The obstacle course has been made possible with donations from several organizations and businesses, he said. Several school and Scout groups have also helped with the project.
“It’s been an awesome community collaboration,” Kovacevic said.
Participants will run through the 1.5-mile obstacle course wearing flag football belts. Along the route, they will encounter obstacles, mud and, of course, zombies. Kovacevic promised natural and man-made obstacles that the runners will have to hurdle, crawl through, climb over and run through – with plenty of water and mud along the way.
And as the name implies, there will also be “zombies” along the course trying to pull the participants’ flags and “infect” them. To successfully finish the race, a runner must navigate through the obstacles and past the zombies to the finish line with at least one flag still intact.
“If they make it, they survive. If not, they’re infected,” Kovacevic said.
Revenue from the Zombie Mud Run will be directed toward further development of the new obstacle course trail and toward the BG Parks & Recreations Camps for Kids program, which helps subsidize programs for youth and families in need.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the parks and recreation board talked about the results of the park levy, which won with nearly 70 percent support.
“It was a team effort to get this passed,” said Jeff Crawford, president of the park board. “The results speak for themselves.”
“We can’t thank the community enough for supporting what we do,” Otley added.
Otley reported that 44 park programs had levies on the ballot in Ohio on Nov. 8. Forty of those levies passed, and 14 were asking for more money. The Bowling Green levy was one of four that passed with nearly 70 percent of the vote.
Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said she was speaking on behalf of the mayor when saying the levy success showed the community believes the board has been “good stewards” of the city parks.
In other business at the park and recreation meeting:
- Otley announced that two grant requests had been approved by the Wood County Park District. One is for new signs for the disc golf course, and the other is for a second water play feature in the splash pad at the city pool.
- Otley reported on the restoration of the veterans monument in City Park. The monument will be rededicated later.
- Natural Resources Coordinator Chris Gajewicz reported that Wintergarden Woods visitor numbers have been up this fall, possibly due to the unseasonably warm weather.
- Tim Stubbs, facility coordinator, said that renovation plans are progressing for the nature center at Wintergarden.
- Otley announced the parks and recreation department will have a balanced budget next year.
