Once home to dolphins and thrill-seekers, the former SeaWorld property in Bainbridge Township and neighboring Aurora is being reimagined as a sprawling park, blending nostalgia with new recreation opportunities.
Once home to dolphins and thrill-seekers, the former SeaWorld property in Bainbridge Township and neighboring Aurora is being reimagined as a sprawling park, blending nostalgia with new recreation opportunities.
Cullen Meves, of MKSK Landscaping in Cleveland, unveiled the firm’s master plan for the 40-acre site at the July 28 Bainbridge Township Trustees meeting, marking a significant step in transforming the shuttered marine park into a public space for Geauga County residents and Portage County residents alike.
Designs for the property are still in the preliminary stages, said Trustee Kristina O’Brien Aug. 5, adding the firm would need to submit a design proposal for trustees’ approval prior to construction.
One of the main entrances to the park comes from Brewster Road in Bainbridge Township, Meves said last Monday.
Trustee Jeff Markley explained his concerns for traffic in the township.
Historically, SeaWorld traffic went through state Route 43, rather than Brewster Road, he said.
“For residents (off of) Brewster (Road), we’ve been obviously concerned about that,” Markley said, adding he is also concerned about the funding for the project.
Other representatives from MKSK at the meeting said all of the funding is currently public, but they hope to go after future grant opportunities.
“We went through a benchmarking evaluation of the region and other potential kinds of comparison parks across the nation to see what could this park provide that’s not as readily available in the area and could be (a) unique experience for the residents,” she said, adding this included water-based recreation activities and unique attractions.
While MKSK is trying to preserve the historic buildings on the site, many are in permanent disrepair, she added.
“Obviously, the history of the site is very critical to all of us. I think every member of the team, the design team, has visited or was a frequent visitor of this park growing up,” Meves said, adding they want to highlight nostalgia and the historic elements of the park.
MKSK’s structural engineers and DLR Group, another architecture firm, both assessed the buildings on the property to see which are no longer usable.
“We started to build these structures and these historic elements into the design as they could be appropriately reused,” she added.
MKSK presented a wave pool, which would lie in the center of the park.
Also included in the design are practice fields, tennis courts, pickleball courts, picnic shelters and meeting spaces.
The purpose of the design phasing plan is for sections of park to be available for use as it is being built, Meves said.
“We’re really thinking about this as how to orient spaces and create mini parks as you build out so that the place feels finished when it’s done, and it can still look to that next phase to continue to grow, but (it) doesn’t all need to be done at once,” she said.
The first phase of the project mainly lies in Geauga County and a portion of Portage County.
Meves is also keeping in mind parking availability as the park sections begin to open.
“We didn’t want to build all of the parking all at once,” she added. “(We) want to make sure that it’s scaled for what’s opening in that space and then we still have the ability to expand as we move across the site.”
The biggest parking lot in the design is part of the first phase, which also includes rehabilitating the gatehouse — a potential event space — and the dock pavilion, also allowing access to water.
Construction on the first phase is set to begin at the end of this year or next spring, Meves said.
Future plans include rebuilding the aquarium, which used to be at the site, according to the firm.
“We do need to fully rebuild the aquarium to keep it on site,” Meves said. “The structure itself … had issues, but really the main issues were in the pilings holding it up. More than 75% of them were … near failure, so we needed to re-evaluate where that structure could go.”
There’s also a portion of the park reserved for preserving the forestry on the land.
“(We wanted) people (to) walk through the trails and enjoy the natural scenery,” Meves added.
Other future plans include a wetland education zone for schools and groups to learn about the watershed and lakeshore elements, Meves said.
