BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- A few more would-be Mark McGwires will get a chance to knock one out of the park in West Chester next spring, thanks to a land deal that gives the township parks an additional 106 acres.
Union Township will trade the 45 acres of McGinnis Park for 151 acres near Interstate 75 and Union Centre Boulevard. Those 151 acres, now owned by Tipton Development Co., will be turned into soccer fields, hiking and jogging paths, and three lakes for fishing, ice skating and paddle boating.
And, of course, baseball fields.
But the land's potential doesn't stop at the sporting possibilities. "We're not just getting a couple of extra ball fields," township Administrator Dave Gully said. "We're getting the chance to throw out the past and totally reinvent our parks system."
The land swap deal is set to close March 1, 1999, but planning is under way. Mr. Gully said the parks won't be fully developed for years to come.
"We'll have a period of transition," Mr. Gully said. "But it's going to get better each year exponentially."
The township plans to move the equipment at McGinnis park across Cox Road onto 300 acres owned by Voice of America. The township will acquire the Voice of America land by the end of the year.
After both deals are complete, Union Township parks will have increased from 130 acres to 536 acres.
