The architectural and engineering firm designing the future Glass City Metropark in East Toledo is getting $188,000 more from Metroparks Toledo, a 31 percent increase over its originally negotiated fee of $598,000.
“This is really self-inflicted,” Dave Zenk, Metroparks Toledo’s executive director, told park district board members just before they unanimously approved the increase. The extra $188,000 brings the total fee for Ann Arbor-based SmithGroup JJR up to a not-to-exceed amount of $786,000 for the project’s first phase, which is expected to cost about $7.9 million.
The increase is self-inflicted, Mr. Zenk said, because park district staffers believe the public wants a more elaborate pavilion and a cove for kayaking. The latter which will require a lot of sheet pile to be removed to build the cove and other features, including a boardwalk, overlooks, and more waterfront seating.
“These elements require additional time for design, engineering, and permitting,” according to a memorandum submitted to the board by Emily Ziegler, the park district’s chief of planning and capital projects. Ms. Ziegler was absent from the meeting.
The pavilion was originally conceived as a simple open-air structure with a kayak-rental building. But the staff ultimately decided to go with a structure that is enclosed, climate-controlled, and big enough for indoor rental space. Its “unique and iconic” design, as described in Ms. Ziegler’s memo, will include a berm that will allow mountain bikes to come directly off trails and be parked on its roof, Mr. Zenk said.
Other building upgrades have been added, as well as plans for a habitable green roof and an elevated roof plaza.
The Glass City Metropark site occupies much of what was previously known as the Marina District along the Maumee River between Main Street and the National Museum of the Great Lakes, and before that hosted a variety of uses including the old Toledo Sports Arena on Main and Toledo Edison’s Acme power plant along Front Street.
Its main entrance will be built on Front, via an extension of East Broadway, while the site’s longstanding access off Main near the Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge will be kept as a side entrance.
In addition to divers finding sheet pile in various states of failure along the river bank, a geotechnical report found a large, unstable fly-ash layer in the soil that will need to be taken out and replaced with ordinary fill, Mr. Zenk told The Blade.
The original fee was set when the first phase of the project was estimated to cost $5.5 million. Now that the total cost is expected to be closer to $7.9 million, SmithGroup’s $786,000 fee still falls between the typical range of 10 of 12 percent of an overall budget dedicated to design and engineering fees, according to the memo.
“We’re re-conceiving [the project], partly because of public input,” Mr. Zenk said.
Commissioner Fritz Byers said the project remains an “extremely efficient design.”
Board President Scott Savage agreed.
“I'm really excited about what that space is ultimately going to do and what it’ll bring to that part of Toledo,” he said.
The work schedule is not expected to be significantly altered by the design enhancements, Mr. Zenk said.
The Glass City Metropark and another future metropark, the Manhattan Marsh Preserve Metropark planned for North Toledo, together serve as the final two links to the park district’s longstanding goal of providing at least one Metropark within five miles of every Lucas County resident.
Glass City Metropark is by far the most innovative idea park commissioners have tried to execute, one they envision as a regional anchor that will promote northwest Ohio tourism and businesses in the east side and downtown areas. The plan is to connect outdoor recreation with the arts commission, area shops, and outdoor concerts.
One of the long-range goals is to provide camping between the Craig Memorial Bridge and the Great Lakes museum for people who want to stay overnight on a budget in the downtown area, such as families after they attend Toledo Mud Hens games.
Features will include a sledding hill, a refrigerated skating ribbon, splash and play areas, a riverwalk and other hiking trails, a fishing platform, a grassy outdoor concert knoll with room for 6,000 people, a modern, earth-bermed pavilion with seating for 150 people and standing room for 450 people, as well as a canoe/kayak launch, electricity, and accommodations for food trucks.
It will be linked to International Park via a pedestrian bridge over Main Street expected to be built next year.
The future park’s design is meant to encourage more walking traffic between East Toledo businesses.
Long-range plans also include a ribbon of green space connecting neighborhoods near Waite High School with the park for extended hiking, jogging, and bicycling.
First Published May 10, 2019, 6:37 p.m.
