A pair of parks in Canal Winchester are no longer nameless following action by the Canal Winchester Village Council on May 19.
After three readings, ordinances naming park land in memory of long-time employee James H. Kelley and the Howe family, who donated land to the village for a park along Howe Parkway, were approved. The James Kelley III Park is located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Dietz Road and Washington Street.
Neither park is slated for major improvement as both are passive recreation areas that invite visitors to relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. In Howe Park, a storm water retention pond is home to small fish and will be stocked by the village, according to Public Works Director Matt Peoples.
"It was always a naturally wet area," said Peoples. "We’ve seen a few cranes in the area and we’ll stock it for fishing. It is considered a passive park and we’ll let it go as naturally as possible, but we’ll probably put up some benches. At the Kelley Park, walking trails were already established on one side of the creek and we will continue them on the other side. Lights were recently installed under the covered bridge, but it is still considered a passive area. The bike path goes through there and people come down at lunch to enjoy the area. They take care of it pretty well. We’ve done a lot of different things to keep that area attractive."
Columbus Street update
The rainy weather has not hampered the Columbus Street reconstruction program, which is ahead of schedule and is expected to open to vehicular traffic as early as the middle of June. According to the contract, the drive-on date was the middle of August, just in time for the Labor Day Festival.
"They (Columbus Asphalt Paving) came in and worked hard," continued Peoples. "This is not a conventional construction project, by any means, and they’ve done a very good job. They could start placing curbs and gutters as early as next week."
