Park district anticipates opening of Legacy Point Park
Legacy Point Park's new sign has been recently constructed in anticipation of the grand opening sometime later this summer.
For those working closely with the ongoing effort to get Legacy Point Park ready for a grand opening, the time can’t arrive quickly enough.
With that said, they understand certain items need to take place in order to satisfy the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. So while the Holmes County Park District board, other county officials and many volunteers wait for that moment to take place when the gates will officially swing open to what was formerly the Holmes County Landfill, they will continue to work diligently toward making sure everything is in place and ready to roll.
According to Jen Halverson, park district executive director, there are only a couple of details to figure out before the park is officially opened, but she said the work is being put in to make sure those issues are addressed and completed as quickly as possible.
Once they are, later this summer Legacy Point Park will become Holmes County’s newest attraction, offering plenty of outdoor activities for birding enthusiasts, nature lovers, photographers and more.
“We’ve been working very closely with the EPA, and they’ve been great, and I think we’re really close to figuring everything out for them to do their final review,” Halverson said.
Because the former landfill was covered over as part of the process, there are limitations on what types of construction may be placed on the hilltop. The EPA will not allow any type of construction to take place that would require any type of digging into the earth, with the possibility of a gazebo-type structure still in play.
The bigger concern right now is creating a presence that would direct the public toward following the regulations about where they can and can’t walk as they enjoy the facility at its highest peak.
“We’re still working on how to figure out a way to corral guests and hikers when they go up the cap, to keep them in very specific areas,” Halverson said. “We can’t have people roaming all over the cap.”
She said training the public as to the proper procedures that must be followed is imperative so everyone can continue to enjoy everything the park has to offer, from walking, biking and hiking trails to the natural beauty.
“It’s going to be about training people that they need to stay on certain paths and certain observation areas,” Halverson said.
According to Halverson, the park district is in ongoing discussions about if they can place any type of fencing near the highest point of the park where the lining exists.
Halverson said they know they can’t place any type of fencing that would require digging posts, but they are exploring possible options with fencing that would simply rest on top of the ground.
She said creating signage that would help visitors better understand where they can and can’t proceed is another option, but she said they don’t want to disturb the natural beauty by placing a lot of signs around the park.
“We may end up tweaking things as we go, but we want to keep the natural beauty as close to the real thing as possible,” Halverson said. “There are some possibilities where we could create fencing in a rustic manner that wouldn’t disturb the ground. The EPA really wants us to be able to control traffic, but Ohio Public Works doesn’t want a bunch of signage that would be obtrusive to the natural environment, and we really don’t either. We’ve got to find the best way to make everyone happy.”
She said there will definitely be some signage, but it will remain as natural as possible.
The other big concern right now in terms of guiding people to safe walking paths is to ensure the birds nesting in the natural grass areas remain undisturbed and are provided with safe areas to birth and raise their young ones.
“Because we don’t mow the grass on the cap and in some other areas, there are a lot of birds that nest in that area, so we are doing as much as we can to protect them because that is one of the few places in the community where they can nest naturally because we don’t make hay there,” Halverson said.
Meanwhile, they patiently await the day when the park is officially open, and Halverson said once people realize how naturally stunning and beautiful this park is, it will become a popular place to visit for many reasons.