Poco Piatti awarded contract to operate future Glass City Metropark restaurant
Sep. 22—The new Glass City Metropark now has a restaurant operator for its yet-to-be-built Market Hall.
Poco Piatti was selected by Metroparks Toledo's Board of Park Commissioners by a 4-0 vote at its monthly meeting Wednesday. Commissioner Kevin Dalton was absent. The other two finalists were AVI and Sodexo.
Market Hall is envisioned as a multipurpose gathering spot for park visitors to take a break and get a bite of food. It is part of the Phase 2 development that began recently.
Poco Piatti has agreed to open a full-service restaurant there. It is to be called "Poco Piatti at the Park," or something similar.
"We went through a lengthy process to obtain bids," Carrie Haddix, Metroparks Toledo chief administrative officer, said.
Preference was given to local vendors with solid reputations known for selling fresh, healthy food. Poco Piatti "met every requirement," she said.
"I think most people in this community have some sense of this family's reputation," Fritz Byers, one of the board's two vice presidents, said. "It just adds another cool element to what we're doing."
Board President Scott Savage agreed, saying the search was "professionally and exhaustively done."
"I think where we landed is in an excellent place," he said.
Poco Piatti is owned by Elias and Joy Hajjar.
Mr. Hajjar's parents, Karyn Hajjar and Labib Hajjar, own The Beirut and Byblos.
Also at Wednesday's meeting, the board:
—Hired Kokosing for the upcoming, five-mile Glass City Riverwalk's construction manager at-risk services.
The initial $163,554 contract is for pre-construction services. The estimated cost for construction services is $2.9 million. Once project plans and specification is 90 percent complete, Kokosing is to develop a final construction cost estimate.
The Riverwalk, which is to be on both sides of the Maumee River, is expected to be completed by mid-2025. It is tentatively estimated to cost $24 million for construction, most of which will be paid with money from a federal grant the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded to Metroparks Toledo months ago.
In a related matter, the board also hired Stanton Constructability Services, LLC, of Salt Lake City, to do independent, third-party cost estimating, scheduling, and facilitation services for the Riverwalk. The contract allows up to $175,530 to be spent on that consulting work. All but $35,106 is to be covered by the federal grant.
—Awarded a contract of up to $750,200 to Spieker Co., of Northwood, to install a 1,077-foot-long boardwalk trail, a 32,000 square-foot gravel parking lot, a boat launch, and a kayak launch at the Howard Marsh Metropark in eastern Lucas County's Jerusalem Township. The work, much of which is being paid with state and federal grants, is to be substantially completed by March 31.
First Published September 22, 2021, 1:20pm
