Land transfers from Blossom to Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Land transfers from Blossom to Cuyahoga Valley National
Park
By: Bob Downing, Akron Beacon Journal
CUYAHOGA FALLS: It required a big deed to mark the big deal.
Officials on Monday signed a ceremonial poster-sized deed to
mark the transfer of 578 undeveloped acres from Blossom Music
Center to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
More than a 100 people crowded into the rustic lodge at Sarah's
Vineyard to celebrate the land purchase, which closes the deal that
involved the National Park Service, the Cleveland Orchestra and the
Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation group.
The deal was especially sweet for Trust for Public Land staffer
David Vasarhelyi, who was a ranger for 10 years in the Cuyahoga
Valley park before joining the trust's Cleveland office six years
ago and completing the agreement.
It was a deal that took six years and $9.247 million in federal
funds to complete.
The purchase eliminates the threat of the Blossom property
becoming the site of new suburban housing. That was the No. 1
development threat to the 33,000-acre federal park between Akron
and Cleveland.
The Blossom acreage is one of the largest remaining forested
tracts in the Cuyahoga Valley and was attractive to the park
service.
The deal will provide an unbroken forested tract of 5,000 acres
at the southern edge of the federal park, protecting streams and
wildlife.
Stan Austin, superintendent of the federal park, called the
agreement "very, very special."
Gary Hanson, executive director of the Cleveland-based Musical
Arts Association, the parent group of the Cleveland Orchestra,
called the pact "a wonderful transaction."
U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Copley Township, hailed the sale as "a
joyous occasion."
The deal drew strong bipartisan support from Ohio's
congressional delegation in recent years - from former U.S. Sen.
George Voinovich and former U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula to U.S. Sen.
Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette and Sutton.
The money for the sales came from the federal Land & Water
Conservation Fund from offshore oil leases.
In May, the parties announced the purchase of 344.45 acres for
$5,286,220.
In March, the park service and Trust for Public Land completed
the purchase of 233.47 acres at Blossom for $3,960,780.
The Musical Arts Association had purchased 776 acres in 1966 to
create Blossom Music Center off West Steels Corners Road. It is the
summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra and a popular venue for
summer concerts.
The group will retain 198.22 acres at Blossom for concerts and
parking.
In addition, the Kent State University Foundation maintains 84
acres for its Porthouse Theatre next to Blossom.
The musical arts group decided to sell the excess Blossom land
because of money problems in recent years. The sale was broken into
two tracts in case problems arose getting federal funds.
The association and the park service announced details of the
first phase of the sale in July 2008.