RICHFIELD: The Richfield Joint Recreation District revealed potential plans for Richfield Heritage Preserve, a former Girl Scout camp previously known as Camp Crowell Hilaka, on Monday night at a board meeting in the village’s Town Hall.
About 75 people — half residents and half from other locations — attended the meeting, many hoping to get answers to what would happen to the park slated for renovation by June 2018.
Environmental Design Group (EDG), a planning firm based in Akron, analyzed the park’s infrastructure and environmental needs to suggest ways the board could spend the allotted $3 million left from a city bond.
The board polled attendees at a meeting for the park in February to determine what people would want in the park. Then, based on those results, along with the infrastructure analysis and the budget, EDG proposed four rough budgets for what the master plan might look like.
Attendees at Monday’s meeting were each asked to put a sticker on their favorite plan to provide input for the board to vote on a final solution.
Lakes and dams in the park need renovation, so the first plan’s budget focused on improving those. Another plan focused more on rehabbing historic buildings on the park property, while the third plan honed in on trail restoration.
The fourth plan, the most popular among residents, compiled a little bit of each of the other three options. That plan would spend roughly $2.5 million.
Some people at the meeting, though, didn’t hear what they had hoped.
Corey Ann Ringle, the president of Friends of Crowell Hilaka, wanted the board to agree to a partnership between the two organizations.
Friends of Crowell Hilaka, a fan club of the park, was formed in 2009 to preserve the property and has since helped the board in funding the project.
No one at the meeting, though, addressed the partnership.
Other attendees felt the board asked for a decision too quickly.
“I would like the board to remember that the voters chose to have us buy this park because of its uniqueness, not just so we could have another hiking trail,” Richfield resident Polly Wheeler said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “It has very unique things that no place else in this village or this township or any other part of Northeast Ohio has. We need to remember that and not just throw it away.”
Wheeler drew applause for her comment, and some other attendees echoed the sentiment.
“It is Ohio’s hidden treasure,” said Christine Naizer from Granger. “Once it’s torn down it cannot be replaced. There’s no hurry.”
The board’s hurry, though, lies in its requirement to spend the bond money within 18 months of receiving it.
The Richfield Joint Recreation District has been in control of the 336-acre park since last year after residents of Richfield voted to purchase the old camp and fund future park operations in 2014.
The former camp belonged to the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio, which sold the land to Western Reserve Land Conservancy in 2014 after closing in 2011.
The board received a $1.1 million Clean Ohio grant to reimburse the district for the purchase of 125 of 336 acres in the park, and then another $7 million in bonds.
Of that $7 million, $4 million was spent purchasing the property from the land conservancy, leaving most of the remaining money to spend on renovations.
“Desires exceed the budget,” said Jeffrey Kerr, the principal of EDG, explaining that the board would need to make decisions on what to fund.
“This is so huge. I have no idea what the next step is,” said Debbie Bluso-Rogers, the administrator for the Richfield Joint Recreation District. “There’s a lot to absorb.”
Kerr said EDG plans to develop a final plan in the next few months after additional studies are done.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom.