Preston Park busy since reopening in November
Preston Park has been reopened for about six months, and the warm weather has ramped up usage of the bucolic venue in the Meridian section of Butler Township.
Cheryl McNeill, assistant township manager, said the park closed last year on Aug. 2 and reopened Nov. 7.
The park was temporarily shuttered to add four single-stall unisex bathrooms and accompanying water and sewer lines.
McNeill said the bathrooms are unheated, so they will not be open in the winter months.
Additional parking was also added during the closure, and the entrance was moved to the original main driveway between the large pillars off South Eberhart Road.
McNeill said usage of the many wooded hiking trails and fishing at the pond has increased since the restrooms were added.
“It is very busy up there,” she said.
The 100-acre park is open from dawn to dusk.
It was the home of the late Frank Preston and his wife, Jane, who were instrumental conservationists in Butler County. Their work contributed to the creation of Moraine State Park and Jennings Environmental Education Center.
During Frank Preston's heyday in the 1930s, the property had the largest number of varied coniferous trees east of the Mississippi, according to Preston Park history.
Jane Preston left the property to the township upon her death in 2008.
