{"id":152822,"date":"2022-04-04T03:37:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T08:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=152822"},"modified":"2022-04-05T03:41:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T08:41:53","slug":"upgrades-planned-for-hiestead-woods-park-and-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/04\/04\/upgrades-planned-for-hiestead-woods-park-and-preserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Upgrades announced at Hiestand Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downtown Van Wert isn\u2019t the only area of town getting a facelift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Hall Block trims away unwanted brush toward the back of Hiestead Woods Park and Preserve, as the Van Wert County Foundation prepares to make major renovations to the area. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

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\u2019s cleanup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe goal is to keep the intrinsic nature of the park while making it more usable and accessible, so for Phase I you\u2019ll see resurfacing of existing trails \u2013 we\u2019ll be creating a new trail as well as making some connections to the reservoir trails,\u201d Nofer explained. \u201cIn addition, we\u2019ll be adding some boardwalks where walkways over wetlands or swales and we\u2019ll be redoing the culvert at the north end of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll 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\u2019ll put in some trail markers too,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will help lay out where the official trails are and help provide a very stable base so these trails will last many years,\u201d Block said. \u201cAs far as boardwalks, the new ones will have a better tread material that won\u2019t as slippery during the colder and mossier seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe park has needed an update for a while now, but the back part, the trails \u2013 this is a major attraction for a lot of folks to get away and enjoy,\u201d Block said. \u201cThe goal is to make this a little fresher, neater and a little bit more official and enjoyable for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Downtown Van Wert isn\u2019t 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-03 15:52:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}