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COLUMBIANA -- As Firestone Park has been hosting a large number of projects since the pool closed at the end of summer, park board president Ron Detwiler said that all of them are running smoothly. There have also been various projects presented to the park board and council over the past few months.
Perhaps the biggest project of note is the Restoration and Beautification Committee's Terra Design project. Terra Design's phase one project of the Legacy Loop Trail is running smoothly despite the weather not cooperating. The plan is for the project, which has addressed the roads, sidewalks and planting of trees in the park, to be finished up before the pool opens back up next May.
Residents are able to just drive by the park and see the immense changes going on as a part of the R&B project.
So, as phase one continues, Terra Design presented the plans for phase 2, titled Idabelle's Gathering Place, to the park board on Monday and council on Tuesday. Both council and park board approved the plan. Terra will have to go back to both park board and council once again after they have their funding for the project. Detwiler said the bid will likely go out in February.
Another endeavor going on at the park is the sports courts project by HRG Inc. The project has resulted in the revamping of the courts while replacing four tennis courts and a basketball court with two tennis courts, two pickleball courts and two basketball courts.
"There are no problems there, and they are on schedule to complete the project by their Dec. 15 deadline," Detwiler said.
The renovation of the pool house is also underway, as the two-phase project is being funded by anonymous donor. Phase one of the project is the exterior of the pool house and phase two is the interior. Once again, Detwiler said they are having no issues so far with phase one.
One of the main components of the project is to maintain the historical look of the park.
"We want to maintain the original look of the park," Detwiler said. "It has the archways and tile roof and things like that. The whole idea is to sync the buildings in the park together and keep their look historically."
The pool house is being expanded and updated with safety features.
Lastly, a dog park project and disc golf project are in the beginning steps. Originally one of the projects included in the original HRG plans with Terra Designs, the dog park project gained interest in the community. Since HRG presented its plans for the dog park to park board and council, there are now strictly in the fundraising phase.
The disc golf course was approved by park board and council as well. Birdfish Brewing Company is leading the project with coordination from HRG and the R&B committee. HRG has done several disc golf courses in the Pittsburgh area. After a year of going over the plan, Birdfish and HRG signed a contract to move forward with the project.
slendak@mojonews.com