Upgrades announced at Hiestand Woods

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Downtown Van Wert isn’t the only area of town getting a facelift.

The Van Wert County Foundation has announced a multi-phase renovation for Hiestand Woods Park and Preserve, just off Hospital Drive. The area, which was established in 1945, has been a staple of the area for many years, but is now in need of updates in order to remain safe, accessible and welcoming to all visitors.

The effort began bright and early Saturday morning, as Van Wert County Foundation officials and volunteers gathered for the bi-annual honeysuckle cleanup.

Foundation Planning and Resources Specialist Laney Nofer and Property Manager Hall Block are leading the renovation project through planning and implementation. Both were working at Saturday’s cleanup.

“The goal is to keep the intrinsic nature of the park while making it more usable and accessible, so for Phase I you’ll see resurfacing of existing trails – we’ll be creating a new trail as well as making some connections to the reservoir trails,” Nofer explained. “In addition, we’ll be adding some boardwalks where walkways over wetlands or swales and we’ll be redoing the culvert at the north end of the park.”

“You’ll also see some new interpretive signage that will speak to different elements within in the park, the different type of trees or different nature elements and we’ll put in some trail markers too,” she added.

Existing asphalt from the front of the park to the reservoir will be ground up and recycled for use as a new base for the main trail and a similar process with stone and other materials will be used for remaining circuits around the trail, while elevated boardwalks will be all new.

“It will help lay out where the official trails are and help provide a very stable base so these trails will last many years,” Block said. “As far as boardwalks, the new ones will have a better tread material that won’t as slippery during the colder and mossier seasons.”

Nofer noted many of the improvements will take place throughout the summer months, meaning the wooded area will be closed for much of the summer, May through September. She also said the north end of the park with the pavilions and playground equipment will remain open and accessible.

The overall project is expected to take several years and future plans also call for the addition of restrooms, new playground equipment and renovations to the pavilions.

“The park has needed an update for a while now, but the back part, the trails – this is a major attraction for a lot of folks to get away and enjoy,” Block said. “The goal is to make this a little fresher, neater and a little bit more official and enjoyable for everybody.”

The Van Wert County Foundation has hired Edge Landscape Architecture to develop the improvement process. The bid process to select a contractor to implement the necessary changes is still progressing.