For more than 20 years now, the Cleveland Metroparks’ Viaduct Park in Bedford has been attracting visitors with its hiking paths and views of the Great Falls of Tinkers Creek. According to the Metroparks website, the park was a joint effort by the Metroparks and the City of Bedford that includes views of both the old train viaduct and ruins of mills that used the creek’s rushing water for power.
Only In Your State calls Viaduct Park “a hidden gem” where “rich history and breathtaking views converge.” And thanks to a new agreement between the city and the Metroparks, Viaduct Park’s area will be expanding. At their June 5 regular meeting, City Council members approved an ordinance that would “gift” around 6 acres of land adjacent to the park to the Metroparks district to develop.
“The city years ago acquired approximately 9 acres which was the former Taylor Chair site,” said City Manager Mike Mallis at the meeting. “It was initially planned to be residential town homes … we held off on that.”
Mallis said the city has long been trying to expand its access to the park system, which it considers a valuable asset. The agreement with the Metroparks will allow the undeveloped acres to be reclaimed as part of the Metroparks.
“We came to an agreement to where the city will be donating … the 6-acre (parcel) at Taylor and Willis that runs along Tinkers Creek,” he said. In return, the Metroparks agrees to build a four-seasons facility on the land, allowing the city of Bedford access to the building for 24 dates a year as well as offering reservable space for the public.
Mallis said the Metroparks put in an addendum in the agreement that shows an example of the type of facility they are planning to build on the site. It can be viewed here at the Holbrook Hollows of Geauga County website. Mallis said it will be a few years until the work on the structure begins, since the first two years the Metroparks will be basically be clearing the land and removing invasive species. He said the park district will also be adding new plants and hiking trails.
Mallis said there is a clause in the agreement that if the facility is not built by the end of 2031, the Metroparks agrees to pay the city the current value of the property, which is $311,000.
“I fully believe we’ll be seeing that facility constructed soon,” he said. “But we do have protection there, where if it isn’t built, Bedford does get recouped for the valued of the land.”
The land, which for decades was used as the home for the old Taylor furniture factory, shows little evidence today that there was ever vital industry housed there. When looking from the Viaduct Park parking lot across Willis Street, the acreage is filled with wild grasses and weeds, along with a variety of trees and bushes. At present, the growth is so thick, the land offers very little incentive to walk through.
Other portions of the land donated to the Metroparks go back deeper into the woods and even border the current park trail. A black chain-link fence divides the established park area from the newly donated land. A view of the new land through the fence shows a different kind of terrain than the overgrown region spied from Willis Street — this view shows a shaded area of tree growth and leaf litter, along with ferns and other plants.
Mallis said the agreement to develop this land will not negatively affect the city’s plans to construct a connector bike trail from the Bedford Reservation though Viaduct Park and into downtown. He said the agreement outlines the Metroparks’ full support of the plan, which would take the trail up Willis Street to the Town Square.
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