Park District Progress Report

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Muskingum Valley Park District is a local organization that was created to utilize and promote nature within the community. Park District Executive Director Russell Edgington shared some of the accomplishments the organization has made as well as some plans intended in the upcoming months.

“We did complete a 5-year master plan towards the end of last year. So I intend to provide them (Muskingum County Commissioners) with copies of that master plan,” Edgington said. “That plan actually takes information that we got from the statistically valid survey we did a couple of years ago. And we applied all of the information that survey respondents said they wanted out of a park district into that plan. And now we have individual action plans to make that all go forward.”

The survey showed that respondents were interested in developing trails through the community and that’s what the park district is concentrating on the hardest.

“We talked about the Putnam Greenway. That’s the corridor that goes from Putnam Landing down to the Community High School. We’re actually moving forward with that project. We have the first installment of funds from the Straker Foundation. And we’re still looking at actually completing that project in the fall of this year,” Edgington said. 

The district also received a grant from the Transportation Alternatives Program for work that is planned to continue on the Muskingum Bike Trail below Dresden later this year.