Park project will let you camp out in the treetops

A fully scaled model of the treehouses.

The Blade/Amy E. Voigt
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Get ready, northwest Ohio: A Swiss Family Robinson experience is on its way here.

Metroparks Toledo is building a privately funded treehouse village inside a new part of Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. The project aims to provide one-of-a-kind overnight camping experiences.

The park district — which kept a low-profile as it began building the much-anticipated, $1.5 million project two weeks ago — is having its big roll-out Friday morning at the site, called the Beach Ridge Area.

At nearly 500 acres, the Beach Ridge Area itself is about as large as the park district’s most-visited park, Wildwood Preserve Metropark. Located just south of State Rt. 2 at 3520 Waterville-Swanton Rd. near Swanton, the site was acquired by Metroparks Toledo in multiple transactions over the past five years.

Park commissioners are having their latest board meeting there at 8:30 a.m.

Weather permitting, the second half of that meeting will feature an unusual twist: Board Chairman Scott Savage will hold it on an elevated platform built in trees as the base for the treehouse village’s future clubhouse, to be known as the common treehouse. That treehouse alone is expected to accommodate nearly 50 future campers at a time.

“We think this is one of the most creative ways to connect people to nature,” Dave Zenk, Metroparks Toledo executive director, said.

Imagine this: A year from now, Metroparks Toledo will be renting out a six-person treehouse, a four-person treehouse, a pair of two-person treehouses, and three tent-hammock platforms for camping up in the trees.

The overlook tower is part of the series of treehouses going up at Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.

Prices will be comparable to market prices for area hotels, approximately $70 to $150 a night based on the size of the treehouse and the time of year, Mr. Zenk said.

The common treehouse will also be available for rental to large groups, such as scouting and educational groups. It is expected to be used for public programs about 20 percent of the time, Mr. Zenk said.

Several of the treehouses are to be connected by a footbridge suspended in the trees, with a crow’s nest and an overlook tower providing aerial vistas of the forest. Most of the treehouses are being built in silver maples, with locally harvested black locust trees — a sturdy hardwood — providing extra support.

One treehouse is being designed with a ramp to ride bikes down from the trees onto a newly finished, 12-mile mountain bike trail.

“All of the individual structures have their own unique character,” Mr. Zenk said.

The design was inspired by the Animal Planet television series, Treehouse Masters. Nelson Treehouse and Supply, the designer behind the show, gave Metroparks Toledo employees construction tips.

No other park system in the country is believed to have a treehouse village inspired and designed by Treehouse Masters, Mr. Savage said.

Drones were used to survey the forest for the best location. Arborists on the ground used that drone-collected data to pick out the best trees. One of the most important features, he said, is a custom-made, three-part heavy metal bracket that Nelson Treehouse designed to hold treehouse platforms in place when trees sway in the wind, Mr. Zenk said.

He and Metroparks Toledo spokesman Scott Carpenter said the treehouse experience should not only create lifelong memories for families but also help raise northwest Ohio’s marketing profile.

The treehouses and related structures are being built completely by Metroparks Toledo employees and volunteers.

Those with ability impairments will be able to use the village, Mr. Zenk said.

Metroparks Toledo is especially proud of the fact public tax money isn’t being used.

The park district steered clear of that because the treehouse village is a niche project. It is reserving tax money for more traditional park maintenance and operations.

The first $1 million for the initiative has been raised. At Friday’s event, the Metroparks Toledo Foundation is announcing a campaign to raise the other $500,000. The foundation, a new version of one that existed years ago, is initially being led by an eight-member, volunteer board of directors chaired by Joe Napoli, president of the Toledo Mud Hens, Toledo Walleye, and Hensville.

“The Treehouse Village is our first major project, and I’m pleased to announce that we are well on our way to making this unique new experience a reality,” Mr. Napoli said.

The largest contribution is to be announced at this morning’s park board meeting. It was made by Linda Cannaley, widow of the late Jim Cannaley, a 1963 Maumee High School graduate who was owner, president, and chief executive officer of Woodsage Holdings, a metal tube-fabrication firm in Holland, that has made anything from motorcycle parts to metal baseball bats.

Mr. Cannaley died seven years ago today in an automobile crash in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Mrs. Cannaley told The Blade her husband envisioned the 500-acre tract as a future golf course and housing development. But, after his death, his widow considered other uses for the land.

She sold it in parcels to Metroparks Toledo to help expand the Oak Openings Preserve. When Mr. Zenk proposed a treehouse village, she loved the idea.

“I just think all of us essentially are children,” Mrs. Cannaley said. “We think of good times in our childhood when we see treehouses.”

While the project is expected to be a hit among younger families, Mrs. Cannaley said she has several friends in their 80s excited about it, too.

“Their eyes twinkle like children when I tell them about it,” she said. “It just gives a whole new perspective on nature.”

The board is expected to pass a resolution this morning to name the project “The Cannaley Treehouse Village.”

Contact Tom Henry at thenry@theblade.com, 419-724-6079, or via Twitter @ecowriterohio.