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$7M raised for visitor center at Ohio national park

Sunday, December 30, 2018

$7M raised for visitor center at Ohio national park

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio

Officials say more than 550 individuals, foundations and corporations and a not-for-profit group have raised $7 million for Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s new visitor center.

The Boston Mill Visitor Center is set to open in the fall of 2019 in Boston Township, roughly 15 miles north of Akron. The center will provide information about programs and activities at the national park to help visitors plan their park experience.

Deb Yandala, CEO of the not-for-profit Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, says the level of support that achieved the funding goal for the center is a “testimony to the quality of our community.”

The park encompasses 33,000 acres along the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland and Akron and generally receives about 2 million visitors a year.

Grand Teton park is recognized for improving access

JACKSON, Wyo.

Grand Teton National Park has been recognized for increasing park access for visitors with disabilities.

The Jackson Hole News & Guide reports that the park won a 2018 National Park Service Architectural Design Accessibility Achievement Award for its Jenny Lake Renewal Project.

The $18 million project restored infrastructure and improved accessibility at one of the park’s most iconic destinations. Jenny Lake attracts nearly 1.9 million people each year.

The project included paving a lakeshore area, where visitors can roll wheelchairs into the lake. Eroded shorelines were also transformed into accessible overlooks.

At two lakeshore overlooks, raised-relief maps have been installed for the visually impaired.

The Jenny Lake Renewal project is expected to be finished this summer.

Galveston, Royal Caribbean plan 3rd cruise terminal

GALVESTON, Texas

The Port of Galveston and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. plan to develop an $85 million terminal – the third for the cruise-popular city on the Gulf of Mexico.

Port Director Rodger Rees and Royal Caribbean CEO and President Michael Bayley recently signed a memorandum of understanding.

Royal Caribbean will pay for the new cruise terminal, at Pier 10, with the site expected to open by fall 2021. A port statement says the initial lease is expected to be for 20 years, plus four 10-year options.

Carnival Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line ships also serve Galveston, which has terminals at Pier 25 and Pier 27.

Visitors fees to rise at Antietam National Battlefield

SHARPSBURG, Md.

History buffs will have to dig deeper into their pockets to visit the Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland.

National Park Service officials are increasing entrance fees Tuesday to help address deferred maintenance and improve visitor services at the historic site.

The current vehicle fee of $10 will increase to $15, which covers anyone in a vehicle up to a 15-passenger van and is valid for seven days.

The per-person fee will increase from $5 to $7, while the motorcycle entrance fee is going from $7 to $10. Additional increases will take effect in January 2020, when an annual pass will cost $35 instead of $30.

Some 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or reported missing after 12 hours of combat in September 1862 in the Battle of Antietam.

Associated Press