The city of Toledo can boast many things, but if it had to choose one, it would probably be the number and variety of metroparks it has to offer.
Just in the past few weeks, Toledo has produced a brand-new area for our enjoyment. The Glass City Metropark.
After more than a century of intensive industrial use, a key riverfront site was reborn as a multi-use park, restoring the river’s habitat and bringing a wide variety of recreational amenities to an underserved area of Toledo.
Toledo earned the nickname “Glass City” in the late 1800s, when it grew into a major manufacturer of glass, along with many other industries. Toledo’s east side has long been its manufacturing hub, especially along the Maumee River that flows into Lake Erie.
As the region’s economy has evolved, the regional parks’ system, Metroparks Toledo, acquired some of these post-industrial sites to restore their natural systems, spur regional economic redevelopment, and improve quality of life by providing more parks in the downtown area.
The park reflects the city’s significant industrial heritage while reclaiming a broad stretch of riverfront for Toledo residents and visitors. After considerable cleanup and restoration efforts, the 70-acre park brings a wealth of recreational assets and cultural touchstones to the city.
First thing we noticed were the amount of playgrounds for the kids. There were 3 to be exact. Each one symbolized a different component of what makes Toledo unique. The pollinator playground was designed to mimic a prairie or open farmland, with structures that are low and close to the ground, and surrounded by forage to attract small critters like birds, bees, and other insects essential to our ecosystem.
The Gross Beak playground is opposite of the pollinator. It was inspired by birds, with a 40-foot wing-like climbing structure as its feature.
Finally, there was the Mini Maumee. It is a splash pad that was designed to be a birds-eye-view of all the rivers and waterways that feed into the Maumee River.
We learned that Phase 1 of this park was finished in 2020, and it included a public pavilion and events lawn, trails and overlooks, sledding hill, and water access for fishing and paddling.
Phase 2 added additional water access points, a campground, a water play area that interprets the Maumee River watershed, and an ice-skating pond connected to The Ribbon—a 1,000-foot ice skating loop that is the first of its kind here! During warmer months, The Ribbon will serve as a multipurpose trail connecting park goers to various amenity spaces.
There is also Market Hall, a commercial space that includes The Garden, by Poco Piati which is the first restaurant to be included in a metropark!
It also had a very nice outdoor seating area overlooking the river, that I could just picture myself sitting at and reading a good book. In addition to Market Hall, cabanas are available to rent year-round for skating and other seasonal activities. Seating 6–8 people with a variety of seating options and fire bowl, the cabanas have large glass windows facing the river.
Glass City will open daily at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. Market Hall will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, and The Garden restaurant will be open daily for lunch and dinner.
David, Hershey, and I had a wonderful time exploring this new park. We were so happy to see something so enjoyable, with so much to offer, on a side of town that most people overlook. It’s exciting that this park will bring more people, so they can see what other sides of Toledo have to offer.
On a site that once produced electricity, Glass City Metropark brings a new kind of energy to East Toledo and the banks of the Maumee River.
Now, I could (and probably should) end this with a highly educational photo depicting the property from a couple of decades ago when it was all aging industrial space that was actively avoided, but, I couldn’t find any. That’s okay though because it gives me the perfect excuse (not that I need one) to close this topic out with a gratuitous photo of my well-behaved, and very sweet, Hershey!
