By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County Park District has received a $224,715 grant to add acreage to Harrison Park – and turn it into a prairie.
The park board agreed in September to purchase 32.8 acres north of the existing Harrison Park, located on Bierley Avenue in Pemberville – but only if the district could secure funding to help with the costs.
On Tuesday, the park district was notified it got the grant.
The funding will pay for about half of the purchase price of $425,000, plus about half of the seeding costs to turn the acreage into a prairie.
By the end of next July, the park district hopes to take ownership, spray, till and seed the new prairie, said Wood County Park District Director Neil Munger.
Pemberville residents Alton and Dolores Beeker approached the district about selling the acreage and house. The park district may use the building as a headquarters for its police.
The existing Harrison Park site covers about 22 acres. The acreage to the north is currently farmed and extends to the Portage River..
If purchased, “this is going to be very much a natural area,” Munger said.
The grant came from the Clean Ohio Green Space conservation program, and the H2Ohio grant program, which focuses on clean water. Because the additional acreage sits along the Portage River, it would provide a filter for runoff into the river.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board learned that the North Coast Inland Trail for bicyclists is being extended from Elmore to Genoa, with the help of a grant. Ottawa County Park District reached out to Wood County Park District about help extending the trail further from Genoa to Millbury, in Wood County.
So the board agreed to invest up to $5,000 for title searches along the abandoned tracks between Genoa and Millbury.
“I’m a very strong believer in getting this done,” Munger said.
It is hoped the trail will eventually stretch from Cleveland to the Indiana line.
“It’s a big deal,” Munger said. “It’s one that’s been talked about as long as I’ve been with the park district.”
In other business, the park board:
- Approved 2.5 percent raises for park employees for 2020.
- Accepted a bid of $22,201 to build a small rock climbing wall for children inside the interpretive center at the Sawyer Quarry.
- Agreed to name Corinne Gordon, park district historic farm specialist, as the board’s representative to the Wood County Historical Society Board.
