Photo, provided by Danielle Daniels, of Quarry Park on March 24, 2013
Several members of Marion City Council, led by Josh Daniels, spoke out against the recent work done at Quarry Park which included the demolition and removal of two kiln buildings. Council complained that they were not consulted about the work and only learned about after it was too late to intervene.
Following the regular City Council meeting Monday evening, Daniels said he was surprised to show up at Quarry Park Sunday morning to find a construction project of “magnanimous proportion.” He shared that the kilns had been removed along with lots of trees, including what he described as 50-year-old cherry trees.
Saying he spent a lot of time in the area as a kid, Daniels shared that he honestly feels the park area was better off before the City took over. He said it is beginning to look like a sanitized yard with a pond in the middle of it instead of the wild, unique area it was prior.
While Daniels said he is upset that “the most natural area in the City” is being ruined, he acknowledged there was nothing he could now say that would bring the park back to where it was.
Mayor Scott Schertzer said the parks are controlled by the Parks Commission which authorized the project to remove the kilns. He said that there have been serious safety concerns with the buildings for a long time. In addition, the commission has been working to develop the south side of the park, something this project will help.
Schertzer said he understands Daniels’ concerns, explaining that he grew up in the country in the woods and had the same feelings when loggers removed a lot of the trees. He reminded Council that it is hard at the end of winter to see the vision of Mike Cheney, Parks Superintendent, and the park board.
Councilman Dale Osborn said that while he understands firsthand the liability issues the City faced with the buildings, it would have been nice to have known about the plans prior to it happening. He said the kilns “had some real history.”
Council member Becky Gustin agreed about the desire to have had more communication and said she would have hoped there would have been some consideration of preservation, something Cheney said there was not. Even so, Gustin said there was little Council could do now to change things, saying, “What’s done is done. We can’t bring them back.”
Explaining the project, Cheney said the area was full of invasive honey suckle which was taking over “like a jungle.” He said no amount of trimming can keep the plant under control and even though it has now been mechanically removed, it will still require repeated sprayings to keep it from returning. In addition, many trees were removed that were either dead or in poor health.
“It really looks bad right now,” acknowledged Cheney, but said that is in large part to it not being green. He said that native Ohio trees and plants will be introduced to the park and stressed that within just a couple years the growth will be back. “I know the area will be more beautiful than it was before.”
Cheney said there will now be one road path through the park with even more walking trails branching off.
Cheney said the kilns were a big safety issue and debris showed that kids were not only getting in and playing in them, but were also using a green garden hose to actually climb one. He said the buildings were “disintegrating before my eyes” and that every time he inspected them there were more pieces falling off. He said the only thing they could have done safety-wise was to put up railings or a fence, but said those would not have worked.
“The area will look much like it did before with the exception of the kilns being gone,” said Cheney.
Daniels told Cheney that while it does appear that he has thought through the plans and that he does have a vision for the park, it’s only one vision. He said that where one person sees a degraded kiln, another may see something that shows the history of a people and area.
“It inspires certain people one way and other people another way. People don’t see history the same way,” said Daniels. He said with that in mind, the plans for the park need to be made with public input.
When asked how the parks were paying for the construction, Cheney explained the excavator was allowed to take the old material, including lime, in trade for completing the work. He said the company approached the parks with the idea and that the City got much more value than they would have if they had simply tried to sell the lime at auction.
Discussing the idea of simply putting up signs, Cheney said they put warning signs up at the cliff area that separates the two quarries, but that the kilns are a different story because they were basically falling down. He shared that when the City tried to install a fence to keep people off the cliff, it lasted about a week. In fact, he said they have never even found the fence.
Daniels bemoaned the modern world’s sanitation of fun which says jumping off the cliff into the quarry or climbing around the kilns is not allowed because it is too dangerous.
“We can’t protect everyone from everything,” stated Daniels.
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