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The city of Fairborn hopes to acquire nearly 19 acres of green space that will be converted into a park and connect with another popular amenity.
The land — referred to as Garland Reserve — is at the southwest corner of Garland Avenue and Commerce Center Boulevard, just east of Interstate 675.
Fairborn City Council passed a resolution last week to accept the property from the B-W Greenway Community Land Trust, as long as the organization is awarded a Clean Ohio Fund grant to purchase the land from the Oberer Development Company.
The 18.626-acre property is divided into two parcels — 7.7 acres of developable land and 10.926 acres of pristine wetlands.
Fairborn’s vision for the site includes a parking lot, walking path, a boardwalk, signage and possibly even a nature educational building, according to Alicia Eckhart, superintendent of the city’s Parks and Recreation Division. The park’s entrance will be off Garland Avenue.
Cost estimates still need to be worked out, but Eckhart said the grant could be in the $500,000 range. The city hopes to open the park in 2017, she said.
“We’re pretty confident that (getting the grant) is going to happen,” Eckhart said. “We’re preparing as if it will be the 21st park inside our system.”
Eckhart said the goal is to connect Garland Reserve with the existing Valle View Reserve, which went through the exact same process beginning in 2008 and opened in late 2013.
Valle View Reserve, 1097 Empire Court, consists of 27.537 acres, and features a half-mile paved walking trail through the wetlands and a parking lot. Connecting the two reserves will result in about a 1.5-mile walking path, Eckhart said.
“It will be on the back side of all the future companies’ parking lots,” Eckhart said. “It will be a really nice buffer between that and the conservation areas. Employees will be able to walk right out there and take a nice break. It will be visible and secure.”
B-W Greenway’s grant application is due the end of October, and an announcement is expected at the end of the year. The resolution stating the city’s willingness to accept the land is a requirement of the grant application.
If the grant is awarded, B-W Greenway will donate the land to the city. Eckhart said the city will take over ownership of the land once the improvements are complete.
“The wetlands are crucial to keeping the aquifer going,” Fairborn Mayor Dan Kirkpatrick said. “It’s a real selling point to this particular area, and I’m very happy to see this happen.”
Connecting it with the Valle View Reserve will be a “wonderful walking trail amenity with anchors on either end,” said Bob Jurick, a B-W Greenway trustee and chair of the organization’s land conservation projects team.
Jurick said the Garland Reserve area has been on the group’s radar for a number of years.
“Even if nothing is done with it, it’s already developed into a natural asset being a habitat with water detention and water control,” Jurick said. “Improvements like a shelter or kiosk will add to the people’s outdoor experience.”
The Fairborn Parks and Recreation Division maintains 20 parks, totaling nearly 715 acres.
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