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Mill Creek MetroParks opens new observation deck
By TIM CLEVELAND
After acquiring the property that has since become the Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, Mill Creek MetroParks celebrated Earth Day on April 22 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open a new elevated observation platform that will allow for a panoramic view of the wildlife sanctuary.
The platform cost $21,000 to build, which came entirely through private donations from the Audubon Society of the Mahoning Valley, Wild Birds Unlimited and the Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation.
The platform is three-tiered, with the highest tier reaching 12 feet high. It is 350 square feet and the first tier is handicapped accessible.
“Once we acquired this property we wanted to do some programming out here,” said Mill Creek MetroParks Executive Director Dennis Miller. “We knew we needed something like this to allow people to come and view the site.”
“The MetroParks wanted to provide facility access to the sanctuary without effecting the habitat,” said MetroParks Planning Manager Justin Rogers. “The observation deck was a perfect solution for that. We, through generous donations of Wild Birds Unlimited and the Audubon Society and the MetroParks Foundation, were able to fund this deck.”
The main people behind the fundraising were Jeff Harvey and Nancy Brundage, who are president and vice-president, respectively, of the Audubon Society of the Mahoning Valley.
“It was an idea that Nancy and I had come up in the past was to do the platform and so since I’m also president of Audubon, I went to the Audubon board and asked them about it and they thought it was a great idea,” Harvey said. “That’s where the seed money came from. She donated and Wild Birds Unlimited donated as well. I asked for a small, little platform, and they came up with this. It really turned into an impressive structure.”
MetroParks Natural Resources Manager Kirsten Peetz talked about some of the history of the wildlife sanctuary before the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We’re very excited to welcome you here to wildlife sanctuary for the ribbon cutting on this observation deck,” she said. “The wildlife sanctuary is a property that was acquired by the MetroParks in 2004 using grant funds as well as private foundation donations. It consists of 264 acres of upland and wetland habitats. It’s situated along Mill Creek. It’s a former fish farm with about 130 acres of constructed ponds. The ponds were constructed in about the ‘50s and the management of the fish farm property itself created the amazing series of aquatic and wetland habitats that have attracted a wide variety of particularly bird species. Over 225 species of birds have been observed here. That number just continues to grow.
“We also have an active bald eagle nest where currently they are raising two eaglets that hatched around the end of March and should fledge the nest in about a month. This pair has been nesting here from around the time we obtained the property.”