Visitor Center

Photo by Zaina Salem

BOSTON MILL VISITOR CENTER: NOW OPEN

Each year, Cuyahoga Valley National Park welcomes over two million visitors, with 20 percent coming from out-of-state. However, the park lacked an essential piece to welcome all these people: a full-service, central visitor center. Now, that’s changed for good.

Through community and corporate support, we have reached our fund raising goal of $7 million!

Thank you to all who have supported this important effort.

Visit the Boston Mill Visitors Center

Fast Facts

Location: SE corner of Riverview and Boston Mills roads, Village of Boston
Budget: $7 million and we have reached our fund raising goal!
Timeline:
- 2017: Planning & design
- 2018: Groundbreaking & construction
- 2019: Grand Opening Oct. 25

NOW OPEN

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is able to welcome visitors to a new visitor center. This “front door” to the park helps orient new visitors to the Cuyahoga Valley and connect locals to its wide array of landscapes and programs.

The new Boston Mill Visitor Center serves as a central, one-stop resource—a destination for visitors to plan their journeys in the national park and Ohio & Erie Canalway.

The project includes a main visitor center building and two smaller buildings nearby, which serve as public restrooms and office space. Each saw a complete rehabilitation in keeping with the historic feel of the Village of Boston. An outdoor pavilion and courtyard provide visitors with park information and resources 24/7, while indoor exhibits orient visitors to the park and its geography, natural resources, history, & surrounding areas.

In close partnership with the National Park Service, the Conservancy managed the fundraising, planning, design, and construction of the project. Once it was complete, the Conservancy “handed over the keys” to the National Park Service, which is responsible for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the property.

Site Plan

Project Partners

The project was led by the National Park Service in close partnership with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the park’s nonprofit friends group. With NPS support, the Conservancy managed the fundraising, planning, design, and construction process.

The project’s lead contractors are all based in Ohio, making for a uniquely local team:

Architecture: Peninsula Architects (Peninsula, Ohio)
Engineering: Environmental Design Group (Akron, Ohio)
Construction Manager: Regency Construction Services (Lakewood, Ohio)

Debbie DiCarlo

Conservancy’s Role in the Project

The National Park Service could not complete this project alone. Raising the funds to acquire and develop the visitor center needed to be a public-private partnership, because federal budget realities make it impossible for the National Park Service to undertake this project on its own.

The Conservancy has a philanthropic mission to strengthen and provide support for the park. The Boston Mill Visitor Center enhances all visitors’ experiences in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. To date, 93 individuals, corporations and foundations have partnered with the Conservancy and CVNP by donating a total of $6.85 million for the project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the project cost $6.85 million? The expense of this project includes several major project elements, including acquisition of the property (from a willing-seller private owner), rehabilitation of the main visitor center building and two additional buildings (for restrooms and planned office space), and a central courtyard and “May Barn” pavilion overlooking the Cuyahoga River. The cutting-edge exhibits within the visitor center also account for a large percentage of the project’s expenses, as well as its planned designation as a LEED-certified green building. Lastly, although it’s not necessarily intuitive, historic rehabilitation projects like this one are typically more expensive than building from scratch. That’s because the buildings were constructed before modern public use standards were in place, so their foundations and main structures must be re-built to ensure visitor safety and longevity of the buildings. Despite the expense, the park chose the rehabilitation option because of the value placed on protecting the historic integrity, character, and value of the Village of Boston—so you can enjoy an authentic historic experience in the valley.

How will parking be addressed? The Boston Mill Visitor Center project includes construction of a brand-new parking lot, which will hold at least 100 cars outside the center of the village, on Riverview Road. This issue continues to be a top priority throughout the park and is being evaluated on an ongoing basis to ensure a positive visitor experience.

How will you ensure the safety of visitors so close to the railroad tracks? The visitor center planning and design team is fully aware of the close proximity of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to the new center and carefully planned ways to mitigate safety concerns around the tracks. The site is designed with well-defined walkways and “buffer” areas to keep visitors away from the tracks except in designated crossing areas, which are designed and built with safety precautions. In general, the proximity of the CVSR station to the Boston Mill Visitor Center is intended to create a more integrated experience for park visitors, who might enter the park on the train and get off at the visitor center stop to explore—or vice versa.

Will there be a gift shop in the new center? Yes! There is a small retail location operated by the Conservancy on the ground level of the new visitor center, featuring special CVNP products, souvenirs, and educational items relating to the history of the valley. We’ll also continue to operate our nearby Trail Mix Boston store, just across the river from the new center.

Will the new center be accessible year-round? Many of you wrote that you’d like to make sure visitors know about all the great winter activities in the park (in addition to the more obvious warm-weather activities). So yes, the Boston Mill Visitor Center will be open year-round (specific hours yet to be determined). Even when the center is closed (in the evenings, for instance), visitors will be able to find park and area information from kiosks and other visitor information areas in the courtyard.

Photo Gallery

Photo Ted Toth NPS, (From left to right): John P. Debo, Chief Development Officer, Conservancy for CVNP; Jennifer Vaserhelyi, Chief of Interpretation, Education & Visitor Services, CVNP NPS; Patty Stevens, Directory of Capital Projects, Conservancy for CVNP; Scott Wagner, Associate Contractor, Regency Construction Services; Deb Yandala, Chief Executive Officer, Conservancy for CVNP; Craig Kenkel, Park Superintendent, CVNP NPS; Christopher Bach, Project Manager, Peninsula Architects; Bryan Kinnamon, former Conservancy Board Member and current Volunteer Liaison.