By Angie Hayes
The Truth Reporter
Glass City Metroparks Dedication and Celebration event was held on June 9. An event to celebrate the creation of phase two of the Glass City Metropark Riverwalk development.
The Friday event was hosted by the Metroparks and a variety of participants supported and offered information to the audience, to explain the process and highlight the benefits for the community.
The event was not only a celebration for the opening of the park but also an acknowledgement of more to come in the future. This is not the end of the project as an even bigger park is on the way. Still in development is a Glass City Enrichment Center on Front Street that will open next year to provide community resources, in addition, a campground is coming too.
A restaurant just opened, for the first time in a metropark. The Garden by Poco Piatti is located inside the Market Hall and is focused on serving visitors and providing resources for good times and will be open seven days a week and year-round! Market Hall is a new facility established in Phase 2 with indoor resources.
The tallest playground in Northwest Ohio is part of Glass City Metropark: twin 41-foot Grosbreak Towers located in the play area for the kids. The Mini Maumee water play area provides water play areas for the kids and includes cabanas, gardens, trails and awesome scenic views. An opportunity for fun times, walking, sitting/relaxing and enjoying the views and playing in water areas. Rain towers are present too. A 1000-foot-long roller skating trail is available and transforms into ice skating in winter. The location is available year-round.
Many leadership partners offered support for the development and growth such as: Dana, Mercy Health, Bob & Sue Savage, Hylant Family Foundation, and Sam & Alice Carson!
“So, Phase One was actually started and completed and Phase Two started in the midst of a global pandemic: challenging circumstances, anxiety, uncertainty,” said Metroparks Executive Director David Zenk. “Many of us were working from home, teaching our kids, and worrying about how to keep our family safe. But this group of people had the most amazing year in our agency’s history.
“Let me tell you in one year what they accomplished: they opened three new parks spread around the community and made good on a promise to place to place a metropark within five miles of every resident in the entire county They opened the country’s largest TreeHouse Village which was privately funded. They passed a levy to support this park. And if that wasn’t enough, they decided to go out and be named the country’s best park district in any city.
“So, the Metropark Team, thank you for what you did; not only in that time period because it’s not even unique! You do that every single day to represent this community and I am so proud to call you co-workers, friends, and peers,” Zenk added.