Tam O'Shanter continues transition from golf course to park. See upcoming changes

JACKSON TWP. − Stark Parks officials hope to make Tam O’Shanter Park a more usable green space for the community.

That's why the park district is planning a driveway and entrance overhaul at the park, as well as the addition of new Americans with Disabilities Act compliant restrooms.

The new driveway and parking lots will be streamlined to avoid traffic and have a more gradual incline to accommodate wheelchairs.

"We had a lot of different goals," said Sarah Buell, capital projects manager at Stark Parks. "We wanted to make the flow better, we wanted to make it more easily accessible."

The former golf course, which has three hiking trails on the 200-acre property, was acquired by the park district at the end of 2018.

The current park utilizes what was left from the golf course, such as the golf cart paths and clubhouse. This year's projects aim to transform the space into more functional parkland.

Last year, the park district started prepping for this year's improvements by clearing trees where the parking lot will be. At the same time, the park district has worked on reforesting efforts on the rest of the property.

The majority of this year's construction is funded through Ohio Public Works Commission Clean Ohio grants.

Tam O'Shanter Park: 'A better layout overall'

The current layout of the park entrance has a central driveway leading from Hills and Dales Road NW toward the clubhouse, with a lower parking lot on the right and an upper lot on the left.

The new plan will relocate the driveway to the corner on the lower parking lot, making the driveway into a continuous curve. The area where the current driveway is located will become more parking and connect the resurfaced upper and lower lots.

"What currently happens that's not great is we get traffic coming off of Hills and Dales, and then you have to stop and make a left or right decision. ... You're not able to enter the park smoothly," Buell said. "So what they did is swooped the entrance a little bit to the east.

"This is kind of a better layout overall for what our needs are," she said. "It's not a golf course anymore, so re-envisioning it to see what's going to work for a park kind of atmosphere."

Stark Parks will be putting the parking lot and driveway improvements out to bid this month or in June. Work will continue into 2025.

Stark Parks intends to keep Tam O'Shanter open as construction is underway. There may be partial closures for safety.

New restrooms planned for inside the clubhouse

Adding accessible restrooms is a big priority for Stark Parks. The new facilities will replace portable toilets that are currently used at the park.

"We go out and ask people how we can improve and what we can do differently," Buell said. "People want more restrooms and no port-a-potties. That's been a big effort we've been trying to make."

There are small restrooms in the clubhouse, but they are not used by the public.

The new restrooms will be large, family-style restrooms with changing tables.

The new accessible restrooms will make the entire clubhouse a more usable space for the park district, Buell said.

"Right now we really can't do public programming because of the accessibility issues," she said. "This gets a lot of visitation from trail users, people coming to walk their dog and coming to hike, and the trails aren't even fully built out yet. We anticipate once you have nicer facilities, that will only increase."

Stark Parks looks ahead toward potential phase 2 improvements

The clubhouse is a colonial style white building. Stark Parks Executive Director Dan Moeglin hopes to someday turn it back to its roots with a rustic barn feel.

The clubhouse was once a barn prior to the property's golf course days.

The front of the building is getting a facelift this year, with more improvements planned as funding becomes available.

"As the demand and the money provides, how do we evolve what is now a colonial looking building back into some type of a rustic barn for programming and activities?" Moeglin said. "We can go back and make this more of a red barn, kind of more historically accurate."

The park district is also considering adding a rear parking lot on the backside of the clubhouse with access to the second floor as part of phase two.

Development also underway for Kirk Schuring Park next door

The connected Jackson Township-owned property, Kirk Schuring Park, will become an active recreation park.

The park will be connected to Tam O'Shanter. The two parks are coordinating trail development.

The township has plans to continue developing its 40-acre property this year.

Last year, the township started development with an earthmoving projects and planted grass on what will become soccer and lacrosse fields. The grass is still coming in, said Michael Vaccaro, administrator and law director for Jackson Township.

The park remains closed as the fields grow. The timeline to open is still unsure.

"It's got barricades, it has a gate because we're trying to really get good growth, get well rooted before we allow play on the field," he said.

He said the next step for the park is putting the driveway and parking areas out to bid. Those projects are anticipated to begin this year.

Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@gannett.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Stark County's Tam O'Shanter Park adds new driveway, restrooms