Beatty Station Trailhead receives $66k grant for redevelopment

Beatty Station Trailhead recently received a $66,000 grant that will be used to redevelop the trailhead station, which opened in 1999.

The trailhead station redevelopment will include a permanent restroom, a picnic shelter, bike fixit station with a roof, a play train station, bike rack, grill, and picnic tables. The grant was provided through NatureWorks. The Beatty Station Trailhead is located at 3200 Springfield-Xenia Road.

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“That section of the bike trail gets a lot of use,” said Carol Kennard, Executive Director of the Clark County Park District. “People use it as a starting and stopping point so we wanted to upgrade it.”

The Clark County Park District has hired a builder to do the majority of the work. But they are planning to find an architecture student to create the design of the play station that will be modeled after a train station, said Kennard. When the station is drafted, they hope to have students from the Clark County Career Technology Center create the actual play station.

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Cathy Kramer, a resident of Springfield and member of the bicycle group Changing Gears, said she uses the trails at least twice a week.

“The trails are beautiful, friendly, and well-maintained,” Kramer said.

She also thinks the upgrades to the station would be great. “To have a nice bathroom would be really nice because this a little bit of a hub.”

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The project is expected to take a few months because shelter designs have to be approved by the state. The permanent bathroom has to be built off-site and then installed at the station.

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In September, the park district will conduct a survey at the station asking trail riders for feedback about what they enjoy at the station and what they want to see changed. Dates have not been chosen yet, but will be posted on the Clark County Park District’s Facebook page at a later date.

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