For nearly two centuries, the Maumee River was the center of Toledo’s economy, providing convenient maritime access to the Great Lakes as the cycle of industrial growth and change unfolded along its banks.
Now, thanks to an ambitious $225 million parks development program led by Toledo Metroparks, the river is poised to take on a new role as a unifying element connecting the city’s diverse communities to nature and each other .
Launching in 2020 and named after Toledo’s rich history as a center for glassmaking, the Glass City Riverwalk program aims to convert existing brownfields and other underutilized riverfront properties on both sides of the Maumee in 300 acres of green spaces and recreational facilities. linked by five miles of multi-use roads. Funding for the program’s design and construction efforts to date has come from a local property tax, philanthropy and government grants.
The first two phases, completed in 2020 and 2023 and totaling $38 million, delivered Glass City Metropark, a 70-acre urban green space that also includes a restaurant and a 9,500-square-meter support building, a 5,000 square meter event facility, nature. -themed play areas and a 1,000-foot-long ice skating and roller skating trail called the Ribbon.
The $58 million third phase of the program, funded in part by a $23 million U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant, is currently constructing the first 1.05 miles of the multi-use trail along both sides of the river . Other elements include a scenic cove with river access and a spiral bridge linking the new downtown green space with an existing drawbridge. The planned completion of this phase at the end of next year will bring the program to the halfway mark.
Jennifer Van Horn, director of planning and construction for Toledo Metroparks, says that while public input was critical in shaping the vision for the new parks, collaboration with and among the design and construction teams has allowed to turn these needs and priorities into reality. .
“Working with partners early and quickly on all development agreements, right-of-way and utilities has been a critical factor in financing and construction timelines,” says Van Horn. “We have great partners who understand the goal and the importance of the project and work with us to achieve it.
Fire pits and lighted towers flank the Ribbon, a 1,000-foot-long ice skating and roller skating rink.
Representation courtesy of Toledo Metroparks
The creation of Metropark
As might be expected given the heavy industrial past of the area, site conditions were not very ideal for establishing an urban forest and other plantations. Cheryl Zuellig, director of landscape architecture for SmithGroup, lead architect/engineer for both phases of Metropark, explains that the site was littered with industrial fly ash debris. The lack of organic material forced Toledo Metroparks to secure nearly 31,000 cubic yards of dredged material to improve the soil.
“We wanted to be sure that we could put trees in there and that they would actually grow,” says Zuellig.
Although no major contaminant remediation was required, Lathrop, the at-risk construction manager for the Metropark phases, encountered many underground obstructions during the excavation, from abandoned foundations and utility structures to plus two dozen “clinkers”—large crucible-shaped pieces of crucible. metal slab created during refractory processes.
“Working with partners early and quickly on all development agreements, right-of-way and utilities has been a critical factor in financing and construction timelines. We have great partners who understand the goal and importance of the project “.
—Jennifer Van Horn, Director of Planning and Construction, Toledo Metroparks
“We were able to incorporate some of them into public art, providing a unique reminder of Toledo’s industrial past,” says Zuellig.
In addition to making Metropark suitable for natural features, Lathrop incorporated a multifaceted network of new underground services, including irrigation and drainage, conventional construction systems for the new facilities, and hydrant lines for the ribbon.
“We had to do a lot of coordination before anything could start on the field,” says Ryan Gundy, Lathrop’s special projects division manager. This included mapping and detailing dozens of connection points.
“If there was a conflict, we first had to figure out what could go where or what would be installed,” Gundy says.
The higher-than-expected groundwater table also complicated the installation of a pump house vault to support the Mini Maumee, a scaled-down version of the Maumee River watershed that functions as a games in front of the sea Additional excavation and installation of sheet piles and a well allowed the project team to strike a balance between location, aesthetics and operational requirements.
Lathrop COO Allen Ziemkiewicz says that in addition to overcoming site complexities, the Metropark phases were a safety success, recording 135,000 injury-free work hours.
“We also did well in sequencing the work with the project grant funding so that Toledo Metroparks could maximize those resources,” adds Ziemkiewicz.
A glass pavilion, with a roof garden and two gazebos, and the adjacent event lawn were the main elements of Glass City Metropark. The pavilion functions as an amphitheater when a stage is added, hosting gatherings such as the Toledo Jazz Festival.
Representation courtesy of Toledo Metroparks
Down by the river
The collaboration of the project team would be critical in meeting a similar set of challenges for the initial sections of the Riverwalk pedestrian walkways. The terms of the federal BUILD grant, administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), accelerated what could have been a three-year design process into just eight months, according to Mike Gramza, the consultant’s geographic discipline leader main of A/E. Colliers Engineering and Design.
“All the companies put in a lot of effort to get to this point,” Gramza says, adding that having CMAR contractor Kokosing on board was also valuable. “We could bounce things around and look at different ideas as we got information and the design took shape.”
Still, the process wasn’t easy, as more information about site conditions and project costs pushed construction estimates well beyond their budgets. Kokosing project manager Kaleb Tobien characterizes the months leading up to the start of construction in October 2022 as “value engineering in progress”, with details being appreciated as soon as the drawings
“It was a testament to the team’s effort to revise the scope to everyone’s satisfaction,” he adds.
“We wanted to make sure we could put trees there and they would actually grow.”
—Cheryl Zuellig, Director of Landscape Architecture, SmithGroup
For example, the original plan to replace the levees that bordered the existing riverside paths was scaled back to preserve as many sections as possible. Solutions included reusing existing sheet piles that were in good condition and adding lightweight 70-pound-per-cubic-foot fill behind the seawall to reduce the sidewalls and eliminate the need for heavy steel. One section used lashings to dead man walls of steel poles, which Gramza likens to “having a levee protect a levee.”
As sections of the Riverwalk are widened and secured, Kokosing is installing two distinctive types of paving blocks, each with clear and colored glass pieces, another nod to the manufacturing heritage of Toledo glass, as well as a stainless steel railing with integrated lighting.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the initial phase of the Riverwalk is the Bend Bridge, a 300-foot-long, seven-span spiral structure that rises from a public gathering area to the west side of the trail to the Bridge of Martin Luther King, which provides access to the Toledo Bridge. International Park existing on the east side. The V-shaped pier legs of the structure have elliptical cross-sections with a unique octagonal rebar, while the longitudinal bars of the bridge deck are bent to accommodate the curvature of the structure .
“We used our in-house form store and 3D modeling to create custom forms for the structure,” says Tobien. “There was a lot of coordination and early meetings with the design team to optimize the design and use the same geometry.”
Among the coordination needs was the development of a straddle curve for one of the piers to safely span a bank of telecommunications ducts. And when moving a water line for the bridge, “we found eight other utilities that weren’t on the plans,” adds Tobien. “Fortunately, only two were active.”
The Adventure Boardwalk, which bridges a cove, is the site of a former marina. It incorporates cargo nets and rope bridges, which provide access to fishing and recreational elements along the Maumee River.
Representation courtesy of Toledo Metroparks
looking ahead
While the timeline for transitioning the remaining phases of the Glass City Riverwalk from blueprints to construction depends on the availability of funding, efforts so far have been successful, with the new Metropark attracting nearly half a million visitors since to open in June 2023. In addition, Toledo Metroparks recently received the Innovation in Park Design Award from the National Recreation and Park Association.
