With the opening today of the new Middlegrounds Metropark, a number of “firsts” are being made by the Metroparks of the Toledo Area.

Located at downtown Toledo’s western edge next to the Anthony Wayne Bridge, it is creating the park district’s first urban presence.

Also, the 28-acre Middlegrounds is the first to be built on reclaimed land and is the first in the countywide system to incorporate ecology into its design and recreational access to the river.

PHOTO GALLERY: Middlegrounds Metropark opens

The park, which features a canoe/​kayak inlet for access to the Maumee River and picnic pavilion, will open to the public with a day of activities.

Running from noon to 9:30 p.m. today, Meet the Middlegrounds will include live music, food trucks, entertainment, demonstrations, kayaking, archery, and a climbing wall.

Steve Madewell, Metroparks executive director, said contractors and Metroparks staff transformed a one-time dumping ground of trash, bricks, and debris into a scenic, urban attraction.

“I would say that it is a real nice opportunity to repurpose, reposition, and rebrand a portion of downtown Toledo,” he said. “It showcases the city skyline in a very beautiful way. It is framed by the spectacular suspension bridge. The Maumee River could not look any better than from that perspective.”

The park, which cost $1.8 million to develop, also features a 1.2-mile walk and bike path and additional 0.2-mile loop, foot bridges, and scenic overlooks with benches and swing.

Joe Fausnaugh, chief of operations at the Metroparks, said more than 800 tons of debris was removed from the property before construction.

The landscaping included planting more than 335 trees, 1,025 shrubs, over 3,000 perennial plants and prairie grasses, and more than 1,000 wetland plants.

Some of the plants and grasses were used in the man-made rock-and-stone stream parallel to the bridge that captures rain and snowmelt from pipes in the structure’s west end. The water is channeled into three settling pools and can eventually cascade down a rock embankment into the kayak inlet.

The settling pools also collect rainwater from the driveway and parking areas.

Mr. Fausnaugh said the streams, ponds, and drought-tolerant grasses act as natural filters to remove solids and break down chemicals before any of the water enters the river.

The water management system also isolates trash and debris that had previously made its way to the river through ground erosion.

“By the time the water hits the bioswale, the debris and trash are filtered out,” he said.

The land, used in the 1800s for railroad and shipping yards for industrialization of the city, was purchased for about $1.5 million in 2006 through grant funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program.

The Rotary Club of Toledo donated $300,000 for the construction of the 2,500-square-foot picnic pavilion, which is modeled after a railroad roundhouse that would have been used in the 19th-century rail operations on the property.

The open-air Rotary Roundhouse, built of framed timber and brick, can accommodate about 170 people and will be available for rentals in 2017.

A fenced, off-leash dog area is to be built later this year on about four acres at the park’s entrance on Ottawa Street. It will have sections for large and small dogs. Also, future plans call for a children’s playground area near the pavilion.

Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.

First Published September 17, 2016, 4:00 a.m.