PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — For rainy days like Wednesday, Parma Heights has found a solution to help homeowners deal with flooding in their basements with the help of a six-acre retention basin.
News 5 first told you back in April about the city’s plans to reduce flooding and overhaul Nathan Hale Park.
READ MORE: Parma Heights overhauls Nathan Hale Park to reduce flooding, create recreational center piece
Now, it’s here after months of renovations, thanks to funds through the American Rescue Plan and Sewer District.
“The street would flood,” said Parma Heights homeowner Bob Bodenschatz.
There’s the old saying, when it rains, it pours, which Bodenschatz said he knows all too well after he experienced flooding in his basement nearly four years ago.
“We had to have a restoration company come in and sanitize it all,” he said.
While the incident happened just once, Bodenschatz said it caused a lot of damage.
“My basement was finished so I had furniture down there and I had a fireplace there,” said Bodenschatz.
Years later, Bodenschatz said he’s hopeful the city’s newest addition of the multi-million-dollar Nathan Hale Park will work, so he says he doesn’t have to experience this trouble at his home again.
“We’ll see what happens. I went to the meetings on it, so I understood what they were doing,” said Bodenschatz.
During sunnier conditions on Wednesday, Mayor Marie Gallo and other city leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to show the finalized project, which News 5 has been covering since the city broke ground last April.
READ MORE: Parma Heights to begin work on Nathan Hale Park Catch Basin to reduce flooding
This effort is part of a master plan by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to hold up to 11 million gallons of stormwater and divert 250 acres of upstream drainage.
“Basement flooding is a regional issue. It’s not just happening here in Parma or Parma Heights, so we are taking measures with the help and direction of the sewage district to try and help these homeowners,” said Gallo.
Help can be seen just hours after the event when rain poured down across many parts of Northeast Ohio, like Parma Heights.
“We can proudly say that since the basin was dug out last year and completed at the end of last year, that flooding has been reduced,” said Gallo.
Along with the basin, the park is now a community recreation centerpiece with new plants, trees, a bridge and trails for residents like Harry Spencer.
“Although we weren’t suffering, I knew that our neighbors were, and I knew something had to be done. I wasn’t sure it was going to be the right solution, but as it turned out that it very much turned out to be the ideal outcome for the community,” said Harry Spencer.
Parma Heights plans to install another basin like this one, off Maplewood by 130th Street, to reduce flooding.
