Granville Recreation District is upgrading its parks. Here’s what's improving

The Granville Recreation District is in the midst of long-planned enhancements to two Granville parks that will prepare the entity for the area's future growth expected from Intel.

After passing a 0.75 mill, five-year operating levy in November 2020, GRD is in its first wave of facility projects with paving parking lots, building a pavilion with an upgraded concession stand and restrooms, pickleball courts and more, said GRD Executive Director Andy Wildman.

The projects have taken longer to start than expected because of the COVID-19 pandemic followed by rising costs with inflation, he said.

"We appreciate our community's patience. We want to make sure that we're doing these projects right and we have the proper permitting in place. And that they're going to be projects that the community is proud of," he said.

GRD Board Chairperson Greg Lott said while the improvements have been in the works for several years, the timing is ideal because of the growth Granville is likely to experience as a result of Intel coming to Licking County.

"(We're) making sure that we're able to have a plan moving forward to where we can do our best to keep the feel of Granville and to maintain all that we love about Granville, but still providing that enhancement and that preparation for growth so that we're not just in this reactive phase and maybe doing things that we don't want to do but just feel like we have to in that moment," he said.

Wildman said the 2020 levy will generate a total of about $2 million during a five year period, which is split between capital projects and operating expenses.

As part of the improvements, the district just wrapped up a project building a new maintenance facility at Raccoon Valley Park. The old facility will become storage space for program materials, including everything from "arts and crafts to football helmets," Wildman said.

The rec district is in contract with the Shelley Company to pave the gravel parking lots at Raccoon Valley Park and Wildwood Park for a total of $659,000, Wildman said. But he added that some areas of each lot will remain gravel because they are designated floodway.

Paving will start June 5, Wildman said. He added it's expected the work will take less than a week and that the parks will remain open to the public during that time.

Pickleball coming to Raccoon Valley

The next two projects on the to-do list are a pavilion and pickleball courts, both at Raccoon Valley.

The pavilion, which will be situated between two sets of baseball fields, will include restrooms, a concession stand and open space for rec district programs. Wildman said people can reserve the pavilion for private events.

Wildman said he knows pickleball courts are in demand, and the district is planning for a minimum of two to four courts that will be located near the park's entrance.

"It's such a popular game. So many people want to play. You want to be able to have enough courts that people can play on," he said.

While there is no set date for when construction will begin, Wildman said, he hopes construction on both can start late this year or by early 2024. He added that planning for projects is already underway.

"With paving being the board's number one priority of that capital phase, we had to wait until we could finalize that project and the budget before we could move to the next phase," he said.

The pavilion is being built in partnership with the Rotary Club of Granville, which committed $100,000 toward its construction. Because of rising costs, Wildman said, the district is continuing to look into grants and private sponsorships for additional funds.

"We want to leave no stone unturned to stretch this capital budget to get as much done as we can," he said.

Wildwood Park pavilion upgrades

Beyond the existing slate of projects, Wildman said the district is also planning for upgrades to the pavilion at Wildwood Park as well as a new dog park to replace one that was destroyed by flooding at Wildwood. He said they've discussed building the dog park in a different Wildwood location or possibly switching the location to Raccoon Valley. Both of those projects are still being planned, Wildman said.

The rec district office is also in the process of moving to its new location on the second floor of St. Luke's parish house. The district had to find a new office as Granville schools, where the district has been housed since 2012, plans for growth of its own.

The rec district did not pay rent for the first floor office space inside Granville school's North Granger Street building and instead contributed to capital projects. Wildman said the district will pay St. Luke's $1,850 a month for the space.

Lott said he knows there has been frustration that the projects haven't been finished sooner.

"COVID through a really big wrench in everyone's plans, so we've had to be patient and go back to the drawing board as costs have escalated," he said. "It's a really wonderful feeling to be able to move forward and finally see these things come to fruition."

mdevito@gannett.com

740-607-2175

Twitter: @MariaDeVito13

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Here's the upgrades the Granville Rec District is making to its parks