Westerville Taking Steps
to Bring Edge Adventure Park to Life The next addition to Westerville’s group of award-winning parks and recreation facilities is in the planning stages with the anticipated first phase of construction to begin in 2023. Initially identified in Westerville’s Parks Recreation and Open Spaces (PROS) plan in 2014, the area now being called Edge Adventure Park (with an official name decision in the future) is an eight-acre park on Vesper Way, north of County Line Road.
“Right now, we’re working with procurement on developing a request for proposal to send to City Council,” Ball added. “Once that’s complete and we’ve selected a consultant, we’ll move to the public input stage to refine the original concept presented in the PROS plan.” For the most up-to-date information on the project and its timeline, visit www.westerville.org/parks.
The park, which will be developed as a regional and community adventure sports park consisting of both ground and aerial fitness courses, was approved for planning-phase funding by Westerville City Council for the 2022 fiscal year. The initial concept developed for PROS includes the construction of a ground level obstacle course, zipline, eco village houses/aerial course, climbing and observation tower, program shelter, creek access and launch, parking and walkways. “This is a completely different type of park from anything we have in the system and sets us apart from a lot of communities nationally,” said Westerville Parks and Facilities Development Administrator Laura Ball. “A lot of times, we focus on passive recreation or family recreation. While this will be family-friendly, it’s going to be very active recreation. Much of the park and its features will require skills and present certain challenges to participants.” The next steps toward the facility will take place this spring with plans of developing the property for residents and visitors alike.
Westerville Community Center
The eSports room at the Westerville Community Center is open and ready for play. One of only a handful of dedicated facilities within parks and recreation agencies across the country, the space is equipped with 13 Dell 5 gaming personal computers, Alienware keyboards and mice and HyperX headsets to provide participants with everything they need. Participants may attend the eSports room with a daily admission or monthly pass. The room is available Monday through Friday from 4 - 8:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12 - 4:30 p.m. Visit www.westerville.org/registration for information on time-slot availability. “In addition to the gaming computers, a Nintendo Wii is available. A PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are coming soon,” Sports Program Manager Dave Pace said. “We’re also starting Smash Mondays for Super Smash Brothers, Rocket Wednesdays for Rocket League and Fortnite Fridays for additional eSports programming.” 24
Additional information on programming, leagues and tournaments will be available at www.westerville.org/parks.
