Posted on August 12, 2025
A former north Toledo dredge dumping site will soon re-open as the city’s newest park and wetland.
The nearly 60 acres of land are located off the Maumee River near the intersection of Summit and Pontiac streets.
At one point, the land wasn’t even accessible to humans.
“Anytime we can introduce a new access point to the Maumee River to the public, we find that very important,” said Joe Fausnaugh, director of Toledo’s Parks and Youth Services department.
Fausnaugh says the project has been in the works since 2019.
“It started out with a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant that took the site from literally a dumping site for dredge material from the shipping channel into a functional wetland,” he said.
Toledo City Council has to approve the name of the park, Pontiac Preserve, at its Aug. 12 meeting.
For now, work is being done to get the park ready to open by the end of the year. Federal grant money is being used to add public access amenities.
“What that means is parking lots and a nice smooth walking trail and some overlook decks right at the water’s edge so that you can really get a good look up and down the river and out at the lake,” Fausnaugh said.
The preserve falls in council member Vanice Williams’ district.
She says the new park means a better quality of life, especially for residents of north Toledo.
“In a lot of neighborhoods, the quality of life is poor because they don’t have a lot of amenities. Having a new park is great for the Pontiac neighborhood,” she said.
Fausnaugh says it’s also a benefit for northwest Ohio’s ecosystem.
“At one end of the 60-acre site, water from the river comes in. It gets filtered through a series of channels and pools so that sediment and pollution drops out, and then at the other end of the site, it goes right back into the river cleaner than when it came in,” he said.
The one-mile walking trail will also include educational signs about the river so people can learn more about the ecosystem.
