AKRON, Ohio — Summit Metro Parks has begun a much-anticipated project to develop the riverfront for water recreation at the Valley View Area of the Cascade Valley Metro Park north of downtown Akron.
Metro Parks said in a release it is building a high-quality access point to the Cuyahoga River for kayakers and canoers in partnership with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and other organizations.
With an anticipated completion date of 2024, the project includes a walking trail, a bike trail, restrooms and a gathering barn with a fireplace, Metro Parks said.
The riverfront-development project was awarded a $450,000 grant from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Metro Parks said.
ODNR awarded the project an additional $98,000 in capital improvement funds for community parks, recreation and conservation projects.
Cascade Valley Park links three Metro Parks — Gorge, Cascade Valley and Sand Run — comprising 1,800 acres of green space that supports diverse wildlife on land and in the river, Metro Parks said.
The 200-acre Valley View section of the park, which Metro Parks bought for $4 million in 2016, was one of the county’s last dairy farms before it was turned into the Valley View Golf Club, Metro Parks said.
Since buying the property, Metro Parks has undertaken a dramatic ecologic restoration, beginning with re-establishing the property’s wetlands, ponds and streams, which had been buried underground or rerouted to accommodate the golf course.
The work required biologists to excavate 6 feet to 8 feet of material over six acres to recreate more than 60 acres of floodplain, which can keep fish safe when the river is high and fast, and reduce flooding in other areas, Metro Parks said.
About a mile of the Cuyahoga River was also restored, with Metro Parks’ biologists installing huge boulders in clusters in the river, building "scour polls" or hollows for fish, essentially recreating fish and wildlife habitats.
The Valley View transformation, from a manicured landscape to a natural environment, was proven successful when in 2022 Metro Parks recorded Summit County’s first-ever capture of a fathead catfish in the Cuyahoga River at Cascade Valley Park, Metro Parks said.
The catfish was one of several indicators that the river’s health was returning, Metro Parks said. Initially, only eight different kinds of fish were present, but that number increased to 26 species after the river restoration.
The park’s transformation included a complete renovation of the historic Himelright Lodge on the property, which now is used for community events.
To celebrate Metro Park’s centennial year, a towering sculpture by Akron artist Don Drumm was installed at the park’s entrance In 2021.
According to Metro Parks, the organization has been working on Valley View restoration and development with its partners for nearly a decade, keeping conservation at the forefront of the area’s master plan.
No park closures are anticipated while the riverfront project is underway, Metro Parks said.