By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Park District wants to create an oasis in the middle of developed acreage for generations to come. The opportunity to buy 33.5 acres is the district’s chance to preserve a bit of paradise from being paved over, said Chris Smalley, director of the park district.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Wood County that was unexpectedly presented to us,” Smalley told the Wood County Commissioners Tuesday morning.
The park district was approached earlier this year by descendants of the Reuthinger family, which previously operated a dairy farm on the Perrysburg Township property beginning in the late 1800s.
The acreage sits just to the south of the current Reuthinger Memorial Preserve – 69 acres donated by the Reuthinger family to the Wood County Park District in the early 2000s.
Now the family has offered the park district the acreage to the south – for $1.2 million. If the park district cannot raise the money, the acreage will be sold for economic development.
The family has offered to “save that last portion of the homestead and give us the first crack at it,” Smalley said.
The expanded park would be a natural oasis for those living and working in the growing industrial area.
“People could eat lunch in a park rather than a parking lot,” Smalley said.
The offer has created the need for an unexpected request to the county commissioners. For the first time, according to Andrew Kalmar, the park district approached the county commissioners for money on Tuesday.
Kalmar should know – he was director of the park district from 1989 to 2000, then county administrator from 2000 to 2022, before returning to the park district as assistant director.
“The park district has never come to the commissioners for anything,” Kalmar said.
The park district is coming with hat in hand to various community partners to raise enough money to buy the property. So far, commitments have been made for:
- $80,000 from the Wood County Port Authority.
- $17,000 from the Friends of Wood County Park District.
- $200,000 from the Wood County Park District.
On Tuesday, Smalley asked the county commissioners to put $400,000 toward the land purchase.
“I recognize this is an extraordinary request,” he said.
The park district will be applying for a Clean Ohio grant, and be asking Perrysburg Township to assist with reaching the $1.2 million.
“This is kind of a unicorn moment,” Smalley said of the opportunity to purchase undeveloped acreage in an area surrounded by industry, Owens Community College and apartment complexes. “It’s a very unique, blank slate.”
County commissioners Craig LaHote, Doris Herringshaw and Ted Bowlus listened to the park district’s pitch – but made no commitment.
“I think we need to think about it,” Herringshaw said. “We have a lot of other elected officials and departments that have financial requests.”
“It looks like it will be a wonderful expansion, but it is a big ask,” LaHote said.
The current 69 acres of Reuthinger Preserve includes 20 to 30 acres of wet meadow area, five acres of natural woods, a five-acre pond, and the park district’s greenhouses for growing native plants.
The new acreage to the south would make way for a park entrance from Reuthinger Road, rather than the busy Oregon Road where it is currently located. The park expansion could allow for more trails, birding and kayaking.
Approximately three acres still includes the family farmstead and large barn, while the remaining 30 acres are still being farmed. If purchased by the park district, the land would be planted with native species of plants.
If the park district can’t scrape up enough money, the property will be sold for development, Kalmar said. He talked about the “opportunity to keep that open space open.”
“The parcel will be sold for industrial growth. We’re not opposed to economic growth – but when this is gone, it’s gone,” he said. “We think this is a great opportunity to save this property for decades to come.”
Smalley believes the park expansion would have a good chance at getting Clean Ohio green space grant funding – as the Harrison Park in Pemberville received a few years back.
“The first step is acquiring” the land, then the park district can seek out grants for trail and site development, Smalley said.
