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Friday, 27 June 2008 |
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 Staff photo/Mike Burkholder
A recently poured sidewalk stops short of a tunnel under Spring Street. The path will connect with the Miami and Erie Canal towpath.
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — A handful of projects in downtown St. Marys are expected to keep city and state construction crews busy well into the summer months.
City crews earlier this week finished the start of a walking path that will eventually connect Memorial Park to the towpath of the Miami and Erie Canal. St. Marys Safety-Service Director Tom Hitchcock said the project should provide additional recreational activities for city residents.
“We poured the sidewalks and that was the first phase to get to the tunnel,” Hitchcock said. “Everything north of High Street we already have grant money to do. We also have a parking lot planned for the north side but until the bank gets going, we can’t start the parking lot.”
Another related project also is near completion. The parking structure outside of the utility office should be open next month, Hitchcock said.
“The structure itself is completed, the only thing that we have left to do is the (drive-up) window and facade work. The structure also is safe to drive on. We’ve been parking construction trailers on it.”
Hitchcock said he also plans to meet regularly with officials from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to develop plans for refurbishing the lock.
Crews already poured concrete for the walls, but Hitchcock said future plans must be developed with ODNR.
“ODNR needs to come in and help us clean out the bottom of the canal,” Hitchcock said. “North of Spring Street we need to put in a concrete bottom for maintenance purposes.”
Once the design phase swings into full gear, Hitchcock said ODNR officials should be in St. Marys to help determine the look of the lock. Final approval of the lock design must be given by ODNR before the project can begin.
“That will probably take a while,” Hitchcock said of the design and approval process. “There will be more water flow when the lock walls are done and there will be a miniature water fall, like at the tumbles. There is still a lot of designing to do with ODNR.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 July 2008 )
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