09/05/2021
Well, if you weren't at the concert last night, you missed the big announcement!
Look for faster and better improvements to the park now that Mon County has established the Monongalia County Park and Recreation Department! What this means is that Chestnut Ridge Park, Camp Muffly, Mason Dixon Historical Park, and the Mylan Park 4H Extension are a more organized team, lead by our new Director of Parks, JR Petsko. If you haven't seen what he's accomplished at Mason Dixon Historical Park, you need to visit!
This week, I will be highlighting work already done over the past two years, and plans for the not-so-far future. Most of the funding for these improvements comes from the Monongalia County Parks and Recreation Levy.
The first, BIG improvement is that we continuing, and in some ways starting over, with the improvements to the sledding hill. In just a matter of weeks, the hill will be COMPLETELY changed so it can accommodate sledding in the winter and concerts in the summer equally. And yes, we are able to properly cover the hill with sod or straw mats and rye grass to ensure it can be open this winter.
The summary is that we're flattening the berms that separated the sledding lanes to give us a nice, flat, grassy hill in the summertime. Then, in the winter, we're establishing three lanes with removable foam bumpers. These bumpers are commercially made for exactly this purpose.
Then, next year, the pull up tow will be installed on the west side of the hill. This is the side where people normally walk up. A walk up lane will be built on the east side of the hill. We're sad it's going to be another year, but that's the compromise we have to make to ensure sledding can happen on the hill this year.
