Construction crews work Friday on a pond feature at the new entrance to Preston Park. While construction is not yet complete, the park will reopen to the public Saturday.

Butler Township is reopening Preston Park on Saturday, Nov. 7, to let people walk the trails and enjoy the woods while work on the park renovation project continues.

People driving to the park must enter the new one-way park road through the new entrance at the iron gates on South Eberhart Road, said Tom Knights, township manager.

Painted arrows and stenciling on the pavement mark the entrance.

“We have active construction, but there is no reason people can't use the trails,” Knights said.The project includes building a loop road through the park, adding parking spaces along the road, construction of restrooms, and creating a stormwater pond near the entrance with a fountain to circulate the water.The park had been closed since work began in August.The restrooms, pond, fountain and pouring the top layer of asphalt on the road are expected to be completed in the spring, Knights said.He said all the trails are open and parking space lines have been painted in the parking areas.People visiting the park should avoid the construction areas, Knights said, adding that the restrooms are not open.The 88-acre park and its miles of trails border the 85-acre Sawmill Run Park and its trail system.The opening in the iron gate was originally about 6 feet wide. Township workers cut it and welded it back together so the gate can open wide enough to allow buses to enter, Knights said.

New restrooms are being constructed at Preston Park in Butler Township.