Architectural firm to update Wick plan

The ice rink closed a couple of years ago because of its deteriorated condition.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- A revamped plan for Mill Creek MetroParks' largest recreation area is expected in about 21/2 months.
Mill Creek Park commissioners signed an agreement with a Cleveland landscape architectural firm to develop a master plan for the Wick Recreation Area.
Carol Potter, a park district spokeswoman, said plans for the area need to be updated.
"With the closing of the ice rink we need to develop an alternate use for that space and that area," she said.
The park board opted to stop operating the ice rink a couple of years ago because repairs would have been cost prohibitive.
Cost
The park district will pay Behnke Associates Inc. $38,750 for the work to be finalized 75 days from the date of the agreement's approval last week.
The 65-acre recreation area between Bear's Den, Old Furnace and McCollum roads includes picnic facilities, a playground, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, batting cages, sledding hills, an 18-hole golf course and the Judge Morley Performing Arts Pavilion, the venue of the park's summer concert series.
The company will assess "all aspects of existing structures including structural, maintenance, utilities, functional and aesthetic issues," under the agreement, as well as assess the condition and need for the tennis courts.
It also will prepare master plans for future uses of the skating building, make recommendations for improvements to the golf course, develop plans for pedestrian links to other areas of the park and investigate the possibility of a new picnic pavilion for the playground or golf area.
Establishment of the Wick Recreation Area started in 1949, and the facility opened in 1956.
Development of a master plan for Fellows Riverside Gardens, which started last year, remains ongoing.