ASHLAND – An idea that has been talked about for years is finally coming to fruition.
The City of Ashland is moving forward with plans to construct a green space and walking path along Town Creek downtown.
In what Mayor Matt Miller is calling the Center Run project, the city will remove one row of parking spaces from the north end of the city’s Parking Lot B to plant grass and trees in the approximately 12-foot wide strip along the creek. Ashland also will add benches and install a meandering concrete pathway from Claremont Avenue to Luther Street.
Miller said he first heard a similar idea from former mayor Bill Strine in 2006. The concept also surfaced in a Community Development Block Grant-funded plan created for Ashland Main Street in 2013 by Poggemeyer Design Group.
Recognizing that Lot B needed repairs soon anyway, Miller decided to make the project a priority this spring. Construction will begin soon on the estimated $73,000 project, which will be paid for using capital improvement money from the city’s general fund.
Though not part of the immediate plan, Miller said he also hopes to add lighting and flower pots in the area and to transform the asphalt slab next to Luther Street into an outdoor event venue.
Also down the road, the city may remove concrete islands from Lot B and reconfigure the parking spaces to improve traffic flow.
Ashland Main Street Executive Director Sandra Tunnell said she has always supported the concept and is happy to see it becoming a reality.
“It’s a fantastic idea,” she said. “It will be a great place for people to sit and have more green space, which is always important. It will be be good for the environment, and it helps extend Main Street to Parking Lot B.”
Tunnell said she views aesthetic improvements as a vital, though often overlooked, aspect of downtown revitalization.
“Beautification is part of economic development. It’s just not always easy to see that,” she said.
The new green space will tie into the city-owned bridge that crosses the creek and leads to what was formerly known as Appleseed Park. The city sold that South Street parcel last year to Damon Hitchcock, who wants to use the space as outdoor seating for a possible future restaurant in his adjacent building, according to Miller.
The green space will also connect to an existing sidewalk next to the old Gilbert’s warehouse, where Substance Church is located. Pedestrians could follow the new Center Run path to the sidewalk, cross South Street, walk through the pedestrian alley beside Uniontown Brewing Company and emerge on Main Street. The city is currently working with the owners of Uniontown to determine a plan to improve the alley and accommodate outdoor seating for the brewery.
Miller said he also has a goal to improve South Street with a new surface, but that plan is on hold until utility work in the area is complete.
Miller and City Engineer Shane Kremser are also working with Ashland County officials to determine the feasibility of extending the Center Run project on the other side of Claremont Avenue. The idea, he said, would be to run a new sidewalk along the creek just south of Corner Park and to convert one row of the county’s parking lot into an extension of the green space. That would extend the path from Claremont Avenue to Broad Street.
Another possible future extension of the path could occur on the east side of downtown, by Bicentennial Park and Dairy Queen. The city has sent letters to approximately 20 property owners in the area along Main Street, Cleveland Avenue and Miller Street (between Dairy Queen at the YMCA) to see if they would be interested in selling land to the city, Miller said.
If enough landowners are interested, the city may apply for a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission to connect the portion of Town Creek in that area into the Center Run path. The city does not plan to use eminent domain to acquire land for such a project, Miller said.
