BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WDTN) – Greene County Parks and Trails has added five new parks to their roster; This as they continue efforts to update and redevelop existing parks.
Phillips Park is now one of five other parks currently owned by Greene County Parks & Trails – pushing the total number of acres to nearly 3,000.
The green spaces were formerly owned by Beavercreek Township – but thanks to a new agreement, the property has been transferred to Greene County Parks and Trails.
Director Jon Dobney says the added parks do mean more manpower and maintenance – but it’s a cost that’s worth it.
“Greene County Parks is the best kept secret in the county,” Dobney said. “They aren’t making any more land so these properties – we feel like we’re stewards of the properties, given.”
He says a lot of the properties were purchase with land and water conservation funds. But it’s the passage of a levy in 2015 for park funding that Dobney says really helped his agency move forward.
“It’s an opportunity that Greene County parks has never had,” he said. “With the passage of the levy, funding became available so we wanted to be aggressive about taking care of the resource we’ve been offered.”
Dobney says its their older parks that are going to see some new works – including renovations at Cedar Cliff Falls that might remind visitors of one of nature’s most famous natural wonders
“We’ll add decks on either side of the falls, and I like to tell people: it’s going to be like going to Niagara Falls – not quite the same scale,” Dobney joked.
Other parks taken on by Greene County include: Pershing Park, McCalmont Park, Koogler Wetland, and William Maxwell.
