Cuyahoga Valley National Park to build $5.9M visitor center

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Officials with Cuyahoga Valley National Park have announced plans to develop a new $5.9 million visitor center at the northeast Ohio nature preserve by 2019.

The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a nonprofit friends group, says the park’s current visitor center is too small.

On top of that, the office is located in a historic 1836 building in the village of Boston and not on park grounds. Approximately 20 percent of the park’s visitors come from out of town.

The nonprofit has been planning the construction of a new visitor center for about seven years.

Park spokeswoman Jenni Vasarhelyi says officials intend to purchase a nearby property from a Boston landowner for the facility.

The Conservancy has so far raised more than $4.6 million for the project.