MEDINA, Ohio — The Medina County Park District unveiled its new plan for the future of Lake Medina.
Even in the dead of winter you can find people walking, working out or watching for nature’s beauty at Lake Medina.
“I’ve walked a lot of other parks and this is my favorite,” said Joan Abrams, a Medina resident.
The Medina County Park District turned the 103-acres around the lake into a park in 2003, after the lake was no longer needed for water supply.
Isaac Smith, the park district’s planning and operations manager, said the park has grown into a fan-favorite for so many people in the area.
“This is one of the most beloved parks in our park system and at the heart of Medina County,” he said.
He said over the years, they’ve made improvement to the land like trail developments, parking lots and lake access, but always had big plans for the master plan of the area.
Smith said that plan has been re-imagined thanks to a donation from a local family, Becky and Frank Shotwell.
In 2018, the family donated 17.5 acres to protest the west branch of the Rocky River and recently donated 8 more acres.
“We are excited to help preserve and create a new area that will serve not only as an additional access to Lake Medina but also provide an exciting new place where friends can strum their guitars, a grandparent can identify a wildflower with a child, families can enjoy a tranquil picnic, or where a child can magically transform his/her imagination while climbing through a treehouse,” said Becky Shotwell, in Medina County Park District’s press release.
This new land will include a third entrance to the park at the corner of Foote and Weymouth Roads, an indoor/outdoor space for public programs, a garden, walking trails, an outdoor amphitheater and transforming the old pump station into an observation platform.
“As we continue to make these developments, this is going to be a major hub of activity for Medina County with the whole trail system,” said Smith.
Smith said the redesign is at the beginning stages and in the next few years the park district will be working with the community and applying for grants to fully fund the project, which he said doesn’t have a final cost estimate just yet.
He said they anticipate construction to begin in 2025.
“We were expecting that people would be excited about this because of how popular the park is but we were overwhelmed with how much attention and feedback we received positive feedback,” he said. “In the next 10,15 years, you’ll see a lot of what we envisioned in the master plan come to life.”
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