Medina County Parks close all but five locations due to COVID-19 outbreak

Visitors walking at Brunswick Lake Park

Visitors enjoy a walk at Brunswick Lake Park on March 26. Brunswick Lake is one of just five locations remaining open following the Medina County Park District closure of most of its 18 parks on March 23, in response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. (Brian Lisik, special to cleveland.com)

MEDINA, Ohio -- Family dinners at home together, kids playing catch in their yards and creating chalk art on their driveways, couples walking dogs. Perhaps the most heartening, and somewhat ironic, byproduct of social distancing and Gov. Mike DeWine’s stay-at-home order in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak has been watching people spending more time together -- albeit at a safe six-foot distance.

Early on in the state’s reaction to the outbreak, DeWine and other community leaders urged people to continue to enjoy the outdoors, even as they were being told to only leave home for essential business.

“If you want to go outside, go outside,” DeWine said as recently as his March 26 daily news conference when asked about the removal of basketball hoops at some city parks in Ohio, due to people congregating too closely together.

“Just stay apart; distance is the key," he said.

Closed playground

Caution tape and a sign warn people away from one of the two playgrounds at Buckeye Woods Park. The Medina County Park District has closed its playgrounds due to coronavirus concerns. (Ann Norman/cleveland.com)

The outdoors is, of course, the very business of federal, state and county park districts. However, Medina County Park Director Nate Eppink said, limited closures throughout the district began as early as March 12 -- more than 10 days before the state issued the stay-at-home order.

That was the day the district closed its two public buildings -- the Susan B. Hambley Nature Center in Brunswick and the Alderfer/Oenslager Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon Township. On March 16, programming was canceled through April 30. And DeWine’s March 22 order included the closure of all playground equipment, which experts have determined could carry the COVID-19 virus for hours, even up to several days.

“March has been a pretty long year,” Eppink deadpanned. “We now have five parks and four multipurpose trails open and have closed 13 (parks).”

On March 23, the Medina County Park District announced that all but the selected five locations would be closed “to promote social distancing and to reduce exposure to COVID-19.”

Parks remaining open are:

• Brunswick Lake Park

• Buckeye Woods Park (with only the Ohio 162 and Deerview Lane entrances open)

• Hubbard Valley Park

• Lake Medina

• Letha House Park West

• Multipurpose trails at Lester Rail Trail, Chippewa Inlet Trail, Chippewa Rail Trail and Montville Trail.

While visiting open parks, the park district urges visitors to follow CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as keeping a six-foot distance between yourself and other park users, not visiting the parks if ill, covering your mouth and nose when sneezing, and not using any playground equipment.

Staffing and health

Eppink said the district’s strategy is to keep a park open in each area of the county, a move based upon both employee and visitor health, as well as staffing and maintenance concerns.

The park system, including 18 parks, 7,200 acres and more than 40 miles of trails, is staffed by 36 employees.

In the midst of many workers across the state switching to a work-from-home world or facing layoffs, Eppink said parks continue to be vital for both the physical and mental health of the entire community -- particularly in such trying times.

“We want to keep these parks open, yet try and protect both lives and livelihoods,” he said.

He noted that his office has received a number of suggestions, from keeping all parks open but closing restroom facilities to rotating open parks through the duration of the shutdown.

While each suggestion was considered, Eppink said, the procedures ultimately decided upon will both avoid visitor confusion and continue the park district’s standards.

“The multipurpose trails are open, and there is still fishing and a variety of activities to (partake in),” he said. “There are just so many unknowns right now.”

Eppink suggested that residents continue to check medinacountyparks.com for updates, adding that when “everybody is back to normal” at the end of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Medina County Park District is looking forward to “a lot of great programs” in celebration of this, its 55th anniversary year.

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