Ribbon cutting held at Lake Park Campground’s new bathhouse
Lori Everhart (center), park director, thanked also those who had a part in making the new bathhouse at the Lake Park Campgrounds possible. Josie Sellers | Beacon
A ribbon cutting was held May 18 at the Lake Park Campgrounds new bathhouse. Work on the new facility was started in mid-January and all the finishing touches will be wrapped up for campers to enjoy during Memorial Day weekend. Josie Sellers | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Lake Park Campground’s new bathhouse will officially be opened Memorial Day weekend for a full-house of more than 70 camping units.
Those who helped make this project happen celebrated on May 18 with a ribbon cutting with donors, board members, Mayor Steve Mercer and the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce.
“We knew when the park levy passed in 2013 that this was one of the first things we wanted to do because the old bath house was what we got the most complaints about,” said Lori Everhart, park director.
The previous bathhouse had structural issues along with drainage and ventilation problems.
“We addressed all those issues with our new structure,” Everhart said.
The contract for the structure was awarded to the lowest bidder, Hathaway, Inc. of Coshocton for $301,000 and work began mid-January.
“The park board was pleased that most of the sub-contractors working on this project were from the Coshocton County area and most of the materials were purchased locally when possible,” Everhart said.
Fundraising efforts that netted more than $90,000 and a $47,425 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources NatureWorks program also helped pay for the project.
During the ribbon cutting, Everhart read a comment from Mary Fitch, coordinator of the NatureWorks grant program through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who was unable to attend the event.
“The NatureWorks grant program was created through the Ohio Parks & Natural Resources Bond Issue, approved by Ohio voters in 1993,” she said. “Grant projects are funded with tax-exempt bond. NatureWorks provides funding for parkland acquisition and for park development of all kinds: Playgrounds, shelters, trails, spray parks, skate parks, ballfields and restrooms just to name a few. This bathhouse, now brand-new and almost ready for use this season, was completed ahead of schedule from a grant prospective. The grant expires on Dec. 31, 2017. We are always very pleased to see grant projects completed in a timely manner.”
At the ribbon cutting Everhart also specifically thanked: Financial donors – The Montgomery Foundation, The Coshocton Foundation, The Schooler Family Foundation, The Rotary Foundation, The Friends of the Parks, and the G. Saba & Sons Memorial Trust; the voters of Coshocton County who approved the county parks levy in 2013, which is being used to fund the remainder of the project costs; Chuck Hathaway, Dave Bush and Dustin Klein from Hathaway, Inc. who were the key players in making this project a success; the rest of the Hathaway crew and all of the sub-contractors who worked on this project for the past five months; Pat Kelly of Kelly Architecture Services of Zanesville; park board members Dr. David Erwin, Roger Moore and Kathy Milligan; and Amy Stockdale, director of the Coshocton County Chamber of Commerce.
The bathhouse features a men’s and women’s side with restrooms, sinks and showers plus each side has a separate handicap stall.
“My favorite feature of it all is the tile we used in the bathrooms,” Everhart said. “I think it adds class and it’s easy to clean, which is one of the biggest features we wanted.”
Finishing touches on the women’s side of the bathhouse were still being completed during the ribbon cutting, but Everhart said both sides will officially be opened by Memorial Day weekend.
“We are very proud of this and think the campers are going to be very receptive to it,” she said. “We have a lot of campers that come back year after year.”
Category: People & Places
