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Park Timeline
1976
PPG Closes
Pittsburgh Plate Glass closes its Mount Vernon facility in 1976. Many families leave the community to find other work.
2000
Initial Acreage Purchase
Community Foundation of Mount Vernon & Knox County provides $151,000 grant to City of Mount Vernon to finance the majority of initial 86-acre Foundation Park acquisition on the former Goodwin Sand and Gravel site.
2006
Clean Ohio Grant
City of Mount Vernon awarded Clean Ohio grant to purchase additional Kokosing riverfront acreage, including western-most lake and access via Harcourt Road (SR 36).
2009
FPC Formed
Mayor Richard Mavis encourages creation of Foundation Park Conservancy (FPC) to establish and execute a vision for the Park. Planning meetings commence and the vision for Foundation Park expands after committee's site visit to Mill Race Park in Columbus, IN.
2010
Purchase of Right-of-Way for Bike Trails
Community Foundation awards grant to City to purchase major segment of right-of-way, adjacent to Foundation Park that will be needed to link Heart of Ohio Trail with Kokosing Gap Trail.
2010
Van Valkenburg Delivers Potential Plan
Ariel Corporation provides $80,000 in funding to Conservancy to commission a master plan for the Park by renowned landscape architects Van Valkenburg and Associates of New York City and Boston. Van Valkenburg delivers stunning but impractical blueprint estimates to cost more than $30 million.
2011
Schnormeier and Stoviceck On Board
Ted Schnormeier offers to develop and execute an alternative development plan for Foundation Park with the assistance of Schnormeier Gardens collaborator Bob Stoviceck. Quiet negotiations to acquire 75-acre former Pittsburgh Plate Glass site begin, following receipt of $1.75 million grant commitment from The Ariel Foundation.
2012
Negotiations with PPG Continue
Conservancy receives confirmation from ODNR that riverfront elements, central to the Van Valkenburg blueprint, would violate existing conservation easements. Negotiations with multiple PPG mortgage-holders bog down; but FPC continues to focus on a comprehensive plan that would incorporate the upper level former PPG site, including the (then) impenetrable wooded area adjacent to the southern bank of the central lake. FPC board is advised in December by board member and attorney Kim Rose that the PPG purchase is imminent.
February 2013
Acquisition Complete; Demolition Begins
Acquisition of the former PPG site concluded on Valentine's Day 2013, enlarging the park lands to approximately 200 acres. Demolition contract with Nick Wall signed within days, providing FPC more than $500,000 for rights to salvage material from site.
April 2013
Restoration of Depot Commences
Work on CA&C Depot commences in April after Station Break Senior Citizens program vacates the building. Members of the community, the Community Foundation, and The Ariel Foundation provide support for the restoration phases.
May 2013
Park Officially Named
In May, FPC votes to officially rename the total area under development "Ariel-Foundation Park" in recognition of the major funding commitment for the former PPG site acquisition and development of the Park by The Ariel Foundation and the Knox County Foundation.
Summer 2013
Clearing of Woods Begins
Major clearing of "The Woods" area begins, including establishments of a roadway linking the upper former PPG site and older established "Lakes" are of the Park.
August 2013
Development Subcommitee Forms
In August, a development subcommitee of the FPC is named, under the co-chairmanship of Melanie Bolender and Joel Daniels. The subcommittee also included Jeffrey Boucher, Kim Rose, Michael Percy, Sam Barone, and Clinton Bailey.
Fall 2013
Pavilions Built in Lakes Area
Fall 2013 sees the erection of seven new pavilions in the "Lakes" area; the demolition of the former PPG site nearly complete, the digging of two lakes and construction of the first of three terraces, and improvements to the southern border of the PPG site, including the planting of more than 100 trees along the roadway.
Late Fall 2013
Fundraising Continues
Fundraising is progressing well during fall of 2013 with commitments of more than $1.5 million toward the $2.5 million Ariel match secured.
Year End 2013
Phoenix Bowstring Truss Bridge in Place
As year-end 2013 approaches, the Phoenix Bowstring Truss Bridge is in place in the "Lakes" area and the first of several hundred large caliper trees have been planted on the original Foundation Park acreage. Hundreds of tons of large rock are also adding interest to the terrain, and shoring up the banks of the central lake and the isthmus connecting the so-called "Wedding Island" to the "Woods" area.
May 2014
CA&C Depot Dedicated
The CA&C Depot, including the William Stroud Visitors Center, is dedicated on May 2.
July 2014
Bridge Dedicated; FPC Hands Over Lakes, Woods to City
On July 3, the City dedicates the restored Phoenix Bowstring Truss Bridge and the Conservancy "hands-off" the renovated Lakes area and the new Woods area of the Park to the City.
August 2014
Rastin Makes Commitment for Tower
At an August 2014 recognition event for major donors, Ted Schnormeier asks Tom Rastin to consider a $1 million gift for the proposed spiral staircase and observation deck around the iconic PPG smokestack. Rastin agrees and the project is scheduled for completion, in time for the grand opening on July 4, 2015.
Fall 2014
Grant Helps City Purchase Additional Acreage
City receives a Clean Ohio grant to purchase additional 25 acres in west Foundation Park area, south of the Park's western-most lake.
October 2014
FPC Announces Naming of Mavis Island
On October 27, Conservancy announces to City Council that a generous contribution from Karen Buchwald Wright has enabled the naming of the island in the central lake "Mavis Island" in honor of the Mayor's "indispensable role" in the Park's creation.
Spring 2015
Park Projects Continue
Despite an exceptionally wet spring, final grading and seeding of terraces proceeds, the Lucerne Road Bridge is installed, critical acreage is acquired for a roadway linking west Foundation Park and the former PPG site along the western bank of the central lake, the Tree of Life Labyrinth is completed, as is work on the Urton Clock House, Community Foundation Pavilion and adjacent picnic pavilion, and the Schnormeier Event Center.
July 4, 2015
Grand Opening
Day-long grand opening festivities featuring three concerts and a laser light show, and culminating in fireworks, attract an estimated 10,000 guests to Ariel-Foundation Park.
To reserve a venue, click here or call 740-501-9293.
To reserve a picnic pavilion click here,
or call 740-393-9501
or email mtvparks@mountvernonohio.org
Vision Statement
• Ariel-Foundation Park will be a world class example of adaptive reuse that honors its industrial heritage and is the focal point for recreation, entertainment, and social interaction in Knox County.
Mission Statement
• The mission of Foundation Park Conservancy is to lead and support the economic stability, preservation, development, programming, and promotion of Ariel-Foundation Park in collaboration with the City of Mount Vernon.