(Monclova Twp., OH) There will soon be another Metropark in Lucas County.
The Metroparks Toledo board of trustees will name a new park in Monclova Township at its meeting today. What is now known as Springer Farms will become Cannonball Prairie Metropark, an 89-acre site the Metroparks bought five years ago.
Springer Farms started about 60 years ago as a working farm with an iconic barn. At one point, the farm boasted 1,000 acres growing corn, soybeans, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Metroparks officials plan to reforest beyond a 12-acre oak forest and restore a prairie on the site, which already has a lake.
Springer Farms is considered a convenient stopping point along the Wabash Cannonball Trail for bikers, hikers, and runners. That's also the reason for the new name Cannonball Prairie Metropark.