We’ll know in September if Cleveland Metroparks is the winner of the 2021 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Parks and Recreation Management. The “best in the nation” award is managed by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA).
Four finalists in six categories are judged for their “ability to address the needs of those they serve.” Cleveland Metroparks falls into Class I, representing the largest park districts based upon population served. (Class I consists of populations 400,001 and more.) The competition is tough. This year, Cleveland goes up against the Chicago Park District, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation.
“We are blessed to be in the company of some amazing park systems. Each park district that gets to this level is excellent,” says Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman. “We are a four-time National Gold Medal winner, winning the last time in 2016, and we have been a five-time finalist. You can only win this award once every five years, which shows you that in the course of over 20 plus years, we have been at the top of all park systems in the country.”
Zimmerman believes that along with his staff, collaboration with other park districts in Ohio, local governments, nonprofits, businesses and private landowners has been a major key to the success of the Cleveland Metroparks.
“We continue to be a national leader in being aggressive and actively acquiring land. That allows it to be preserved in perpetuity and open to the residents of Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township and beyond,” says Zimmerman, noting that 2020 was a record year for the park system, counting 19.7 million recreational visitors. “We also continue to add miles of trails for more access, more accessibility and improve residents’ quality of life. And we continue to enhance park offerings.”
Those enhancements include the $1.6 million Huntington Reservation Enhancement Project in Bay Village that was completed in May. The Noshery is the newly constructed and expanded concessions building that evokes the nostalgia of beach structures of the past. (Cleveland Metroparks bought industrialist, hobby farmer and inventor John Huntington’s estate in 1925.) There’s more than just small bags of chips at the Noshery. Think walleye sandwiches, cocktails, craft beer, salads and ice cream.
The park’s 4,200-square-foot Sunset Picnic Plaza, constructed by Westlake firm Ground Works Land Design, features picnic tables, a fire pit and Adirondack chairs. Also new: an accessible bathroom and changing facility, bike racks and the restoration of the exterior siding on John Huntington’s historic water tower.
“Sunset Picnic Plaza has one of the coolest outlooks around,” says Sean McDermott, chief planning and design officer for the Cleveland Metroparks.
Another enhancement this year includes the Soaring Eagle Zipline at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo that gives visitors a bird’s-eye view of the animals below, as well as a look at Downtown Cleveland. But perhaps one of the most significant contribution the Metroparks has made to the city is its $16.45 million Re-Connecting Cleveland: Pathways to Opportunity project. Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants and other funding has allowed the park district to construct five trail projects over 4 miles, a new bridge and the ability to eliminate gaps in trails.
“It makes a difference for people in the neighborhoods,” says McDermott, noting the success of the Red Line Greenway, Whiskey Island Connector Trail and the Wendy Park Bridge that have benefitted East and West siders. “It’s not just recreational, but it opens up seamless community trails for different modes of (car-free) transportation. We listened to people, and they said they wanted connectivity.”
Margy Judd is president and owner of Executive Arrangements, a talent attraction firm that helps woo and onboard executive talent to Cleveland and Akron. Judd shows the Cleveland Metroparks to 99% of her potential residents considering Northeast Ohio.
“Most of them come from urban areas and can’t believe you can be at a trailhead, beach or a golf course within 20 minutes. In other places, you have to get in a car and drive a couple of hours to access those parks from where you live,” says Judd. “And when the Cleveland Metroparks took over other parks’ lakeside beaches, it was just the best thing that ever happened to Cleveland because everything the Metroparks touches turns to gold.”
Judd says it is one thing “to create a new park or take over one,” but maintenance can also be a concern. She says the Metroparks’ “professional maintenance makes a difference.
“People who come here to see Cleveland really notice that. They say it is the cleanest park they have ever seen,” says Judd. “Also, the parks are so guest-experienced. It’s not like they say, ‘Here’s a park. Figure out how to entertain yourself.’ Instead, the Metroparks offers naturalist-led walks, fishing camps for kids and live music on the beaches with food and beverages — even suntan lotion if you forget it at home.”
The Gold Medal Awards program was founded in 1965 and selects winners based on a park district’s long-range planning, environmental stewardship, resource management, volunteerism, professional development and other criteria. This year’s finalists will be honored at the National Recreation and Park Association Conference, held Sept. 21 to 23 in Nashville.
“If we win, it just validates what Cleveland already knows — that we have the best park district in the country,” says Zimmerman.