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The Blade (Toledo, OH)
by Mike Jones, Blade staff writer
9-19-00
Contracts were approved yesterday by the board of the Toledo Area Metroparks for two of the last major projects at the addition to Wildwood Preserve.
Lumber for boardwalk railings and decking will be supplied by McArthur Lumber & Post, McArthur, O., for $85,000, and construction of the covered bridge along the boardwalk will be done by Kohne, Inc., of Oregon, for $66,200.
A contract for $561,000 was awarded in July to Rudolph/Libbe, Inc., of Walbridge to build the 1,675-foot boardwalk.
When the project is completed, probably next spring, it will span the Ottawa River and connect the approximately 80 acres at Corey Road and Central Avenue to the existing 460-acre park. It also will provide a connection for runners and cyclists to the University Park Trail path, which runs through Wildwood Preserve on its route from the University of Toledo to King Road.
Board members were told yesterday that a 3,000-square-foot shelter house on the additional property is nearly complete, as is renovation of the 19th-century Corey Road Schoolhouse.
Programs probably will be presented at those sites prior to the official opening of the addition after the boardwalk and bridge are completed.
The board also approved the purchase of about 1.5 acres in the 5000 block of Jerome Road, which abuts the land where the Battle of Fallen Timbers was fought.
The metroparks will pay the appraised value of $147,000 for the property, according to Jean Ward, metroparks director.
The system earlier purchased a 72-acre section for $2.8 million from the city of Toledo.
The parks system intends to buy the remaining 115 acres near the intersection of I-475 and U.S. 24 next year. Most of the total price of $5.5 million is expected to come from federal funds.
Board members spent more than five hours in executive session yesterday, most of the time discussing a replacement for Mr. Ward, who will retire at the end of the year.
They said finalists for the job are Gary Horn, deputy director of the system since Mr. Ward was appointed director in 1985, and Jim Spengler, former director of a parks district in Arlington, Tex.
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