By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The great outdoors is still open – the indoors, not so much.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Wood County Park District Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to cancel facility rentals through the end of the year.
The park district had been going month by month on cancellations, with hopes that it would be safe to open up facilities for rental at some point this year.
“I felt it was really important to get the word out to people,” said Wood County Park District Director Neil Munger.
If conditions improve between now and the end of the year, the park board can reverse its decision and people who had reservations at park facilities will be contacted, Munger said.
The park district has facilities for rental at Otsego Park, W.W. Knight Preserve, and shelter houses in William Henry Harrison, Cedar Creek and Bradner Preserve parks.
The park district’s shelter rental income averages $105,000 in a normal year.
This year, the county park district has seen a jump in people visiting the county parks. While Gov. Mike DeWine had ordered Ohioans to stay home, he also said they could visit parks.
“When he said that, our park attendance went through the roof,” Munger said in May.
“The parks have been busy,” he said. “If there’s any positive to come out of that – people have discovered parks they didn’t know existed.”
In June, the park board revelled in the fact that people were taking advantage of the great outdoors during the pandemic. However, that same month, the majority of the park district’s bills for the month were returning funds due to cancellation of rental contracts.
“That’s a big hit we’re taking right there,” Munger said in June.
While some restrictions have loosened in the state, the use of indoor facilities remains limited.
The maximum number of people allowed to gather together is 10, with the exception of wedding receptions.
The park board struggled with the fact that the picnic tables in the shelter houses at William Henry Harrison Park, the Bradner Preserve, and Cedar Creek Preserve, would not allow for 6-feet social distancing.
Munger pointed out that asking the park district police to patrol gatherings could be difficult, and require a lot of overtime.
