50 Years of Memories
The beloved park, at 1828 Smith Road in Akron, turns 50 this year.
“ The park, its facilities and the staff continue to help people enjoy the Metro Parks through the interpretation of local history and nature,” says Mike Greene.
Greene, a Summit Metro Parks naturalist for 24 years, frequently visited the 104-acre sanctuary as a child. “I loved the nature center and the turtles in the pond,” he recalls. “My experiences there definitely reinforced my interest in the natural world.”
A New Park
The Nature Realm began in 1964, when Summit Metro Parks acquired farmland to host history and nature programs led by then-naturalist (now longtime volunteer) Bert Szabo. At the time, the property included a barn, hayfields, a pond (today’s Seneca Pond) and a small pine tree plot.
Greene says the barn was used as a nature classroom, and the nearby farmhouse was adapted as a nature center, filled with exhibits designed and built in the basement by Szabo. Several trails were constructed, including the looping Seneca Trail. Cherry Lane Trail is also original, but it was first called Erie Trail.
By the mid-1970s, as visitation continued to increase, park staff began recognizing the need for a new, larger building. Meanwhile, additional changes were being made to the grounds, including the introduction of an arboretum and a rock and herb garden, both designed with special considerations given to people with different abilities. The Arboretum was created on what had been the old hayfields using soil from the digging of the irrigation pond, known today as Echo Pond. The Rock and Herb Garden was constructed to encourage people to touch and smell plants with aromatic, culinary or medicinal properties.
In 1989, construction began on an underground building that would become the current Visitors’ Center. A year later, the brick farmhouse was razed, and the new building opened to the public in November 1991, creating another spike in visitation. Over time, the exhibits aged, and a renovation was planned.
Modern ‘Makeover’
The building was closed in December 2008, and over the next 15 months, new exhibits were designed, fabricated and installed. Crews also rebuilt the parking lot, added a new welcome kiosk, rerouted the entrance walkway and made it more accessible. Wetlands were created along the walkway to collect runoff, and a program deck overlooking Seneca Pond was added. Numerous green features were included, and the project achieved LEED-certified “Platinum” status, making it one of the most energy efficient buildings in the state. The new-look Visitors’ Center reopened in spring 2010.
The appearance of the building will change once again this year, when the Visitors’ Center gets a new roof. Now with the dirt removed – done in 2014 to repair leaks – the new roof design will protect the building for many years to come, and it will give the center a sleek, more modern appearance.
Regular center hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is always free. The park includes the 10,000-square-foot Visitors’ Center with a gift shop, several gardens, observation decks, two ponds, hiking trails and a tall-grass prairie.
For more information, visit summitmetroparks.org, or call 330-865-8065.
Summit Metro Parks manages 12,900 acres, including 14 parks, several conservation areas and more than 125 miles of trails, with 22.4 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Annual attendance averages 5.2 million visitors.