A contingent of Maple Heights officials and representatives from the Cleveland Metroparks gathered at the the entrance to Dunham Park Friday morning to officially mark the joining of the park into the Bedford Reservation.
Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell and Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman together signed the paperwork that signified the transition of the 50-acre park into a MetroPark property.  After the signing, the crowd broke into the “Happy Birthday” song to honor Blackwell on her special day.
“I couldn’t think of a better birthday present,” Blackwell exclaimed.
The mayor recounted the park’s role in the past as a place of recreation for the city’s families, including swimming and ice skating.
Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell and Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman finalize the agreement to make Dunham Park part of Bedford Reservation Friday.
She said with a downturn in the economy, the park had come into disrepair over the years, but that now the park will be a resource again for many surrounding communities.
“They deserve a place like this,” she said.
With this change, Maple Heights becomes the 49th community directly served by the MetroParks. The park is located at 6200 Dunham Road in the southwest corner of the city and sits about a half mile north of the Dunham Road entrance into the Bedford Reservation. Currently about 10 acres is devoted to recreational use. The rest of the property is largely covered with trees, and contains valuable headwaters of streams that eventually feed into the Cuyahoga River.
Plans for the recreational area include a new pavilion and playground, hiking trails and renovations to the restrooms. There may be the future possibility of connecting the park to the main body of the Bedford Reservation.
Zimmerman seemed to echo the sentiment of many of the people present when he talked about the MetroParks working together with the city.
“It is really the right thing to do at the right time,” he said.
