New Dalton park all ready for play
A new park in Dalton has two Weaver playground sets, four red-roofed pavilions with picnic tables, 10 benches and a cemented walkway that connects to the path around a pond and chapel.
When one drives down U.S. 30 between Orrville and Dalton, you can’t help but notice the bright-red roof of P Graham Dunn near Dalton. Now another new attraction is going to draw visitors, especially little ones, to the area.
Nestled near P Graham Dunn, a new place to play is under construction. The new park has two Weaver playground sets, four red-roofed pavilions with picnic tables, 20 lamp posts, 10 benches and a cemented walkway that connects to the path around the pond and chapel. More than 170 trees of 45 species also will be planted to help provide shade, beauty and noise protection.
Although it’s not yet officially opened and will not have an official opening, visitors have been stopping by on nice days to check it out. One such family had the idea to stop by on a recent Saturday.
Scott and Darcy Becker, who live north of Wooster, had driven by during the week and seen the new playground. Knowing they would be watching their grandson, Hudson, over the weekend, they made the trip down with him to check it out.
“It’s just so nice that they’re doing this,” Scott Becker said.
They’ve taken him to playgrounds all over the nearby counties and seemed excited for another one for him to explore.
Although the structures are up, the trees aren’t planted, and there’s currently dirt instead of grass between the different areas. But there’s mulch down by the play sets and some picnic tables in the pavilions.
By the first or second week of November 2022, the park will pretty much be completed. However, some parts will need finished up in spring 2023, and some of the trees can’t be planted until the spring.
In fact, when it’s all said and done, the park will actually be an arboretum, and each tree will be tagged next year. Jason Veil, curator of the Secrest Arboretum at OARDC, has selected and positioned each tree, which were purchased from Acorn Farms, Davey Tree Farm and Davis Tree Farm.
Shelter Excavating from Dalton did all of the earth-moving, and Shaffer, Johnston, Lichtenwalter in Wooster was the civil engineering company that designed the park.
The pavilions, lamp posts, picnic tables and benches are all made from white oak, a species with a life expectancy of 100 years, and were constructed and erected by Hickory Circle, a timber frame company in Holmes County.
People wanting to exercise can get their mile walk or jog in using the sidewalks by walking around both parks twice. The distance around the new park is a quarter mile; the original park with the pond also is a quarter mile. Younger kids also could bike around the path.
“I have heard a lot of positive things about (the park), and it fits well with our mission to create space and opportunities for families to connect in the community,” said Delight Howells, director of LincWay.
The Wayne County Children’s STEAM Playlab, which is projected to open in fall 2023, will be located in the LincWay building beside Dutch Kitchen. The LincWay Workspace had its first customer move in on Oct. 18.