As part of the $3 million-plus capital project by the Restoration and Beautification Committee of Columbiana to renovate the decades-old Harvey S. Firestone Park, planning for construction of the Legacy Trail Loop, a walking pathway of historic sites, included in Phase II of the restoration, is underway. 

 

The Legacy Trail will invite visitors to explore five gardens, representative of historic locations in the park, including Harvey Firestone’s Lookout, the Hanna Cabin Ruin Garden, the Hanna Spring Garden nearby, the Lilac Stroll Garden, and the highlight of the Legacy Trail, the Idabelle Firestone Gathering Place and Garden. A tribute to Mrs. Harvey Firestone, it will be an outdoor amphitheater for the community to celebrate music and the performing arts together, to honor Idabelle Firestone’s stature as a composer of her era and a lover of both music and flower gardens.

 

Interpretive panels providing historical information will be located at each site within the Legacy Trail, which will meander through the park from the top of the hill across from the pool house, across the roadway, and extend down the hillside to the sports courts. A new brick entry will mark the entrance to the trail.

 

The committee would like to reach out to the community for any original black-and-white photos of Firestone Park through the years, especially from the mid 1930’s and early 1940’s, that might still be in existence, for use on interpretive panels. The public may contact Rose Conrad, public-relations representative, at (330) 428-7563 for arrangements to have available historical photos included on the interpretive panels for this project and for a book about the history of the park coming out later this year.

 

The Restoration and Beautification Committee anticipates a grand opening of the Legacy Trail sometime in late Fall of this year.

 

Stay tuned for more progress reports!