Buckeye Horse, Mill Creek fail to reach deal

By JESSICA HARDIN

jhardin@vindy.com 

CANFIELD

Buckeye Horse Park Association and Mill Creek MetroParks failed to negotiate a new lease for Vicker’s Nature Preserve at 9260 Akron-Canfield Road.  

BHPA has leased about 47 acres of preserve since 1994. 

“I think there was a variety of sticking points for both parties. For MetroParks, there would be no need to lease the facility unless there was a benefit to the park,” said Mill Creek MetroParks executive director Aaron Young. 

Young would not elaborate on why negotiations failed. 

BHPA is a nonprofit group that provides educational and competitive equestrian opportunities.

A 2005 amendment to the lease agreement increased annual rent paid to the MetroParks from $1,200 in 2005 to $3,600 in 2018.

Without a tenant, Mill Creek MetroParks will operate the facility and likely will implement a fee structure for its use by horse enthusiasts, Young said. 

BHPA shared the news in a letter signed by president Susan Smith-Gordon posted to the organization’s website. 

In the letter, Smith-Gordon said the proposed lease was not cost-effective and was “counter productive to [BHPA’s] missions and operations.”

The Buckeye Horse Park Association has canceled its schedule of events for 2019. 

“The Buckeye Horse Park Association Inc. will continue its mission, wherever it may call its future home base,” according to the letter. 

BHPA could not be reached to comment. 

Some people used Facebook to encourage others to appeal to Young to renew the lease. 

One user posted her letter to Young, which included: “This facility has existed without requiring financial support from Mill Creek Park. Why add cost to Mill Creek Park to maintain the horse park when it currently is financed and maintained solely by the volunteers who love it?”