COLUMBUS, OH -- A recent $3.1 million renovation of Cleveland's Edgewater Park has earned a national award from the States Organization For Boating Access (SOBA), according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
ODNR received recognition for renovations at Edgewater Park, a unit of Cleveland Lakefront State Park. The recently completed renovation featured more than $1 million in improvements to the park's boat launch ramp. The project included construction of a new eight-lane boat launch facility with state-of-the-art traction grooves, floating courtesy and launch lane docks, and a fixed concrete fishing pier.
States Organization For Boating Access (SOBA), made up of state boating officials devoted to the acquisition, development and administration of public recreational boating facilities, will present ODNR with its Large Access Project Excellence Award 2001 in September.
"It's an honor for ODNR to receive this award," said Jeff Hoedt, chief of the ODNR Division of Watercraft. "It recognizes a project that serves a diversity of recreational interests along the Lake Erie shoreline."
Other improvements to the park included enhanced lighting in the boat launch area to increase nighttime safety. Obstructions within the Edgewater harbor basin were removed and the area adjacent to the launch lanes was dredged. The newly constructed boat ramps opened on Memorial Day weekend.
The boating access portion of the Edgewater Park renovation was made possible through $496,000 in funding from a NatureWorks grant administered by the ODNR Division of Watercraft. The ODNR Division of Parks and Recreation provided the remaining costs of park renovations.
Cleveland Lakefront State Park, one of 73 state parks managed by ODNR, recently received the agency's Most Improved Park of the Year Award based upon customer satisfaction surveys. ODNR will receive the SOBA award at the organization's annual conference set for September 16 in Kalispell, Montana.
For Further Information Contact:
John Wisse, ODNR Division of Watercraft
(614) 265-6695
-or-
Jane Beathard, ODNR Media Relations
(614) 265-6860