With so much attention given toward Glass City, Metroparks Toledo’s newest addition to the system, staff presented the park commissioners with an overview of the other parkland in the system and the history behind them.
At the August 23 meeting, Shannon Hughes, director of education and programs, talked about metroparks which will celebrate 95 years this year.
But to understand how metroparks came to be, she said one must look first at the beginning of the environmental movement.
The years between 1890 and 1920 were dubbed the progressive era, due in large part to President Theodore Roosevelt and his belief in protecting natural and cultural resources.
During this time, in 1908, Toledo established city parks, issuing its first recreation report in 1925.
When the Great Depression unfolded in late 1929, the need to put Americans to work became tantamount, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, which resulted in public work relief projects for beautification.
The New Deal proved invaluable in creating a number of structures residents enjoy today at the oldest parks in the system.
Fred DeFress, an engineer, began pushing for a metropolitan park district in mid 1920, and in 1928 the application was approved with the first board meeting held June 20, 1929.
Their mission was to “conserve the natural resources within said territory” of the park system.
Side Cut park in Maumee became their first acquisition when the board in 1931 leased canal lands and locks one to six. The old canal, completed in 1842, had been abandoned by 1850 with trains becoming the mode of transportation.
Oak Openings followed in 1931, when a 69-acre parcel at Monclova Road and State Route 64 was acquired. The land was noted for its rare plant species.
Ms. Hughes said a move to rename the park in 1948 after W.W. Knight–one of the first park commissioners– was squashed by Mr. Knight himself who declined “and it kept on being Oak Openings.”
The next park to be acquired was in the town of Providence, across from Grand Rapids, about 10 miles south of Waterville, she explained.
The towns’ mill had been built and rebuilt and the village itself was so plagued by disease and fire that, in 1835, Providence was removed from plat, Ms. Hughes said.
The board leased the land from Waterville and Providence parks in 1932, and in 1937 renamed the Waterville acreage in honor of the park district’s director/ secretary W.W. Farnsworth.
Pearson park in Oregon came into being in 1934 after a successful campaign– Pennies for Pearson. The campaign closed with 130 people giving donations of $10 to $100, which allowed the park board to purchase vacant properties mortgaged by various banks.
In 1937, Bend View became the sixth and last of the river parks for many years to follow. The park was forced to close in the early 1960s due to lack of funding to maintain it, but reopened in 1972 after successful passage of a levy.
The lack of levy funds made it a challenge to improve the parks, but New Deal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration enabled the park district to have built a number of stone structures still standing today, Ms. Hughes explained.
Projects performed by the WPA included shelter buildings, dam installation, fish hatcheries, tree plantings, ditch digging, skating rink, beautification and bridges.
Two additional properties were obtained in subsequent years prior to passage of the district’s first park levy. They were Secor Park in 1941 and Swan Creek in early 1972.
The park mounted its first succesful levy campaign in the early 1970s, the passage of which led to the purchase of Wildwood Preserve. That purchase kept the acreage and Manor House from falling into the hands of developers.
Passage of that levy also allowed the park board to hire more staff and establish a solid footing for the future of the metroparks.
Following the presentation, board President Scott Savage expressed appreciation to the staff for the history lesson, adding that “standing on the shoulders of those who came before us is a true honor.”
Other Business
In other business, the park board:
•Transferred $96,000 from the general fund to the education fund due to insufficient funds. Matt Cleland, chief financial officer, said the additional funds will cover the marketing department for a number of special events during the last quarter of 2023.
•Amended the appropriations for park district insurance with Hylant Administrative Services, adding $15,000 to the original $185,000 budgeted.
Mr. Cleland explained the increase is a result of rising costs.
•Amended a blanket purchase order for utilities to reflect name changes for two companies.
•Approved payables for July totaling $2.76 million.
The financial officer noted that “generally salaries are a little higher at this time of year.”
He added that the success of Glass City has resulted in adding staff this year “so I estimate we will be a bit over budget on staffing this year.”
•Contracted with Munger Munger + Associates Architects Inc. for professional architecture and engineering services of the new maintenance building at Secor park at a cost not to exceed $85,500.
At press time, the September park board meeting had yet to be determined.
