File. Signs were put up in 2019 when the Wood County Park District board voted to close Buttonwood after ice floes, caused by a hard freeze then a rapid thaw, washed out a lot of the park and scarred trees.
J.D. Pooley | Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — The future of Buttonwood Park may be uncertain, but it can certainly be picked up a bit, a nearby resident told the county park board.
“I’m very much concerned about how the park is kept,” said Mary Jane Strader at the March meeting, which was held at W.W. Knight Preserve.
She said she knows there are flooding concerns and ice damage.
“But there are things that we could do to make it more family friendly,” Strader said.
She and others regularly walk along the river at the park, with grocery bags, picking up trash.
Some of the things she’d like to see at the park include a “raccoon-proof” trash container. Strader also said that noxious weeds at the park entrance need to be removed.
“Ultimately I would like to see some camping come back,” Strader said. “There are ways that we could make it look a little bit better, and safer.”
A pile of gravel has been sitting for two years, she added.
Board member Denny Parish said that the gravel may be related to a dike that has been an issue for the park board and a horse farm that built it.
Until the dike is lowered, which was recently required by the county planning commission, there probably won’t be much action toward park improvements, Parish said. He said the board could revisit the issue in June.
Buttonwood was first heavily damaged by ice jams in 2015. The park was again damaged by ice in February 2019.
The park board in March 2019 voted to close Buttonwood after ice floes, caused by a hard freeze then a rapid thaw, washed out a lot of the park and scarred trees. This also occurred four years previously and the board spent $100,000 to repair the damage.
The park was mostly a primitive site, with some camping areas and soccer fields. It is popular during the walleye run, has been the home of an annual pow-wow and hosted the Jan. 1 polar plunge one year.
Strader implored the board not to abandon Buttonwood.
“It’s one of the few accesses to the river that families can use,” she said.
“I would like to see the river look — I don’t think pristine is the word, I don’t think we can ever achieve that with Buttonwood because of the way the river goes through it, wipes things out. But it’s also a cleansing, when the river goes through the woods like that.”
After the meeting, Sandy Wiechman, board chair, said she needs to revisit the park.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been down there,” she said. “I think we need to look at all the possibilities.”
