Something new is coming to Allardale Park in Granger Township: a $1 million lodge.
It is an enclosed shelter with a rustic look and 6,000 square feet of space. It includes a warming kitchen, restrooms, heat and air conditioning, a fireplace and a covered porch, said Tom James, executive director of the Medina County Park District.
The lodge can handle up to 98 people and will be available for rental for weddings, showers, retirement parties and other events.
Known as the Lodge at Allardale, it will be dedicated by the park district and the Allard family in ceremonies 2 p.m. Sunday at 141 Remsen Road.
Naturalist-led hikes, crafts, letterboxing and other activities will begin at noon. Admission is free.
The Allard Family Fund of the Akron Community Foundation paid nearly $1 million for the facility, James said.
The park district contributed $400,000 for an access drive off Remsen Road, a parking lot and sewer for the building. That included a separate parking lot at the eastern end of the park for equestrians, he said.
“We’re thrilled to have it,” James said of the new shelter. “We’re very happy with it and very grateful for it.”
David Allard, a Tennessee-based architect, designed the new shelter. He is a nephew of the late Stan and Esther Allard, who donated the first 125 acres to the park district for Allardale Park in 1992.
A ground-breaking ceremony for the shelter was held in April 2012.
The park district later got an additional 50 acres from the Allards and purchased 212 acres from the Firestone Estate in 1997 to boost Allardale Park’s acreage to 387.
Stan Allard planted more than 100,000 trees on the family farm, starting in the 1930s.
James said the new facility will be the second largest in the park district.
The biggest shelter sits at Hubbard Valley Park in Guilford Township. It can handle up to 250 people.
The park district has smaller shelters that can accommodate about 50 people at Letha House Park in Chatham Township and the Krabill Shelter near Chippewa Lake in Lafayette Township.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.