Millersburg seeks opinions on uses for Old Airport Park

What do you do with a plot of land that has been a mainstay in a community for decades that is now struggling to find use?

That is the dilemma the Village of Millersburg is facing in dealing with the Old Airport Park on the south side of town on South Washington Street behind Millersburg Electric.

In order to gain a better sense of what to do with the land at the park, which includes ball fields, a tennis court and concession stand, restroom facilities, and space for soccer play, officials from the Village of Millersburg are seeking input from the community to help decide what to do with the park.

Because Deer Run Park, located less than a mile away on Glen Drive, is thriving with busy ball fields, a playground, a new skate park, basketball courts, a dog park, a disc golf course, a walking path and picnic pavilions, the need for the community to use the fields at Old Airport Park have lessened over recent years.

In addition, the low-lying land is often saturated with water after a hard rain, rendering it tough to maintain and utilize.

The village has budgeted funding for some upgrades at Old Airport Park such as improvements to the roof of the pavilion and restroom buildings, but Village of Millersburg superintendent Nate Troyer said the repair work on those structures would be extensive.

“The baseball fields are usable, the tennis courts and basketball hoops are there, but they are badly in need of resurfacing, and the concession stand and restroom are in very poor shape, and we aren’t even opening those to the public,” Troyer said. “The big question is how much use are these facilities getting and is it worthwhile to invest a lot of money into renovating the park if not enough people are going to use it.”

So the question for the village is how much does it want to invest in an area that is no longer used.

According to Troyer, the ball field was not used this summer but did get some use in recent years as a practice facility for tee-ball-age kids. There has been some pick-up soccer played there, but the wet conditions have made mowing that area difficult.

“Over the last few years, it appears that the wet, swampy conditions to the south have continued to expand north, and we are unable to mow everything that we used to be able to maintain,” Troyer said. “We feel like these parts of the park would be better served if we let them revert to a natural green space, which would open it up to uses other than the traditional sports-related park activity.”

In addition to the deteriorating tennis courts, there are two basketball hoops on an asphalt base that is in dire need of resurfacing. Troyer said the courts could be resurfaced and also relined to include pickleball, a popular outdoor game that is played on tennis courts.

Troyer said the restroom facility is locked because the park is not used regularly, and the pavilion also does not get much use.

In order to gain some insight, the village council is seeking input from people in the community in hopes that in sharing their ideas about what they think the village should do with the park they can find a proper use for the land and get a better feel if investing in rejuvenating the facilities would be worthwhile.

“It would be nice to get some insight as to what the community feels about the park, and we are inviting anyone to let us know what they would like to see done with the park,” Troyer said. “I would like to see the tennis courts resurfaced because there aren’t courts in town, and there has been a lot of pickle ball discussion. The pavilion could be utilized, and the fields could be easily updated. But do people see a need for any of this renovation to take place? We don’t want to sink a lot of money into the park if nobody is going to use it, so that is why we wanted to hear from the community on what they think we should do with it.”

Anyone who has ideas on how the park should be used or who wants to offer advice and input on the park is invited to email Troyer at nathan.troyer@millersburgohio.com or call the village office at 330-674-1886.