“We are very excited to have made this land acquisition,” said Beavercreek City Manager Pete Landrum. “Our city is committed to providing recreational opportunities to our Beavercreek residents while also preserving as much green space as possible.”
The city hopes to create a master plan for the park space by the end of the year, and resident input sessions for the park land will be held in the fall. However, plans for the park are contingent upon funding, as the city said it does not yet have the funds to develop it, and the land could remain as green space.
Combined, the two properties will create a park more than twice the size of Rotary Park, which at 72 acres is the city’s largest current park.
The parcels are immediately north of Ankeney Middle School, running from Shakertown Road north about a mile to Patterson Road, just off the east side of I-675. The land is a mixture of farm acreage and wooded land.
The city was awarded $738,000 in total grants for the parkland from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources through the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund across two consecutive years. The city matched both grants using park fees, money the city has collected from Beavercreek developments that have not dedicated land for green space.
Both parcels were purchased from the Miami Valley Research Park Foundation. For the 48 acres, the total purchase price was $470,000, and for the 100 acres, the purchase price was just over $1 million, with ODNR grants accounting for half of each amount.
In 2019, a community survey indicated that 60 percent of Beavercreek households saw “a need for large community parks,” according to city officials, and a high percentage of residents indicated they wanted to see more trail systems and open spaces in Beavercreek. This new park land will allow the city to fulfill those requests, the city said.
“The purchase of this land allows the city to protect Beavercreek’s natural resources, prevents commercial and residential development, and preserves green space for future generations to enjoy,” Landrum said.
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