Last Tuesday, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer visited Punderson State Park in Newbury Township to announce plans to invest more than $5 million at the park.
Last Tuesday, Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer visited Punderson State Park in Newbury Township to announce plans to invest more than $5 million at the park.
“There’s a lot to do here and I know there’s a lot of history that goes into the manor,” Zehringer said at an outdoor news conference behind the manor and overlooking Punderson Lake, Ohio’s largest and deepest natural lake. “This really, truly is one of our gems of a state park.”
Ohio will spend $88.5 million to upgrade and modernize trails, campgrounds and recreational facilities in its 74 state parks over the next two years.
The capital improvement funding is included in the state capital budget and is more than four times the average.
Zehringer added, “We’re going to make sure that this money is spent well. It’s your money.”
That is why the ODNR launched a website — parks.ohiodnr.gov/improvements — in April for parks visitors to help decide which camp sites, cabins, lodges, restrooms, trails, roads and facilities see improvements, he said.
More than 5,000 people have responded thus far, including about 100 comments concerning Punderson.
Those comments included the need for a restroom, more parking and possibly a pavilion at the disc golf course, which ODNR showcased at the Ohio State Fair this year.
Punderson’s 18-hole disc golf course is ranked in the top 10 courses in the state, Zehringer said.
Other projects identified included better trail signage and upgraded electrical service for people wanting to bring full-service RVs to the park.
“That’s the problem we have,” Zehringer said, noting many of Ohio’s state park facilities were built in the 1960s and 1970s, and now need repairs or upgrades.
Zehringer then outlined planned capital improvement projects at Punderson.
• Building a flush restroom near the disc golf course.
“That’s a heavy lift for us. Restrooms are very expensive,” he said. “And we’re going to look at the possibility of a pavilion. That might be something that maybe we could work with the Friends (of Punderson) group on, or it could be down the road, but we think that’s a great idea.”
Zehringer also committed to looking at adding more parking near the course.
• Renovating some of the park’s cabins.
• Updating the playground equipment near the cabins.
“We’re going to expand the playground area a little bit and, of course, upgrade the playground equipment,” Zehringer said.
• Installing more full-service hookups and upgrading electrical service.
• Renovating the indoor and outdoor pools.
• Upgrading the electrical and HVAC systems in Punderson Manor Lodge & Conference Center.
“The manor house was built in the 1920s and it is our oldest lodge,” Zehringer said, adding some also claim it is haunted.
In addition, all of the outside trim work on the Tudor-style manor house will be redone.
• Renovating the locker rooms, including new doors, flooring and paint.
“I think we have about 6,000 people that stay at the manor every year, so these improvements are going to enhance their stay at Punderson lodge,” Zehringer said.
Work on the lodge already has started, with completion estimated sometime in 2016, said Stephanie Leis, ODNR public information officer.
• Extending the Punderson Boardwalk from the lake to the cabins.
“We had over 13,000 people last year that spent a night in our cabins or in our campground, and to be able to have a boardwalk that will connect the cabins and get people right with nature … is going to be very beneficial,” Zehringer said.
He added one of ODNR’s goals is to get more kids outdoors and get them fishing, and provide better access to the lake.
“We’re looking at a T-dock (off the boardwalk),” he explained. “It’s just a perfect area of the lake where people staying at the lodge or staying at the cabins can come down, and it would be like a fishing dock that they could fish off of.”
In addition, one of the “top things” that will be done is getting the sledding hill lift back up and running, hopefully this year, Zehringer said.
“That is a remarkable hill. Not only the view from up there, but the way it’s kind of grooved for tubing,” he added. “It looks like a very safe and fun place to be.”
Not included in the capital improvement projects are plans to put down a gravel base to smooth out existing trails for multi-use vehicles such as snowmobiles. That money instead is coming from the state recreational fund, Zehringer said.
“We’ll also be having an access for the snowmobilers to be able to get to the lodge better,” he added.
Ohio is one of seven state park systems nationally that charges no entry fees.
“So a lot of these things at Punderson and all our state parks are free, and that’s just something that’s very important,” the director said. “We think our state parks offer anybody that is on a tight budget or a large family … what a great way to improve the quality of life, is to visit a state park like Punderson.”
Zehringer also made a point to thank the Friends of Punderson group for all they have done.
“We can’t do it without you,” he said. “The disc golf wouldn’t have happened without you. A lot of the upgrades wouldn’t happen without your suggestions and your help.”
Some recent achievements the Friends have been involved with include the nature center near the camping and check-in station, numerous trail improvements, an archery course near the sled hill and, more recent, improvements to the movie screen.
“We also help the park host events and activities,” said Friends President Andy Morrison. who defined the Friends as “a group of passionate people who want to make the world and the park a better place by making the park experience more fun.”
Gary Obermiller, new deputy director of the ODNR and chief of Ohio State Parks, said the capital dollars will result in tremendous improvements to Ohio state parks.
He also pledged to match the dollars invested with “intensity and RPMs.”
“We’re going to raise the bar for Ohio state parks in a big way,” he said.
