Rating The Suburbs: Three Nearly Completed Construction Projects
We drill down on projects in Aurora, Lakewood and Mentor.
Located on 125 acres of former farmland purchased by Aurora in 2002, you’ll find a massive outdoor athletic complex with five soccer fields currently in use. The city’s first cross-country course and four ballfields open this fall, while a 7-acre tree arboretum will open next year. “It takes a long time to put a facility of this magnitude together and make it happen,” says Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin. 325 Townline Road, Aurora, auroraoh.com
One Lakewood Place
Replacing the former Lakewood Hospital in Lakewood, the mixed-use development features 200 housing units, including 60 town homes, plus a half-acre public park, almost 200,000 square feet of office and retail space and the renovated historic 100-year-old Curtis Block building. “Lakewood’s downtown is already a very vibrant place and this is just going to add to that vibrancy,” says Bryce Sylvester, Lakewood’s director of planning and development. 14519 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, onelakewoodplace.com
Springbrook Gardens Park
In a town of almost 50,000 residents, this 53-acre oasis in Mentor is just what the ever-growing city needs. Expected to be complete in 2020, the former plant nursery will feature a winding 1.7-mile trail that weaves through soon-to-be-planted trees, past a free-flowing creek, an open-air pavilion and a pond with 3,000 to 4,000 fish such as large-mouthed bass, blue gill and catfish. “At some point in our future, there isn’t going to be any more land to utilize as a park,” says Kenn Kaminski, the city’s parks and recreation director. “We’re securing greenspace for the future.” 6776 Heisley Road, Mentor, cityofmentor.com
