Six years ago, the marina at Point Place, Cullen Park, was a run-down afterthought. In disrepair and with a waterway few used, blight overshadowed its potential as Toledo’s only point of direct access to Lake Erie.
But Cullen Park’s turnaround has been dramatic. Boaters come in and out of the marina at all hours. Families come to fish, kayakers disembark from a recently-installed dock— even birding enthusiasts are attracted by Cullen’s variety of feathered visitors.
The change is breathtaking, and its impact on the Point Place community is being noticed. None of it would have happened without the group Visions of Cullen Park.
Pointing the way
In early 2010, Vee Stader— a 55-year resident and member of the Point Place Business Association— made the park her passion project.
“At our board meetings we talked a lot about, what can we do to get things going out here again and perk up the economy? At one of the board meetings, I suggested that we start with Cullen Park, because we have the yacht clubs, we have the golf courses, and it would be a natural migration to come down this way,” Stader said.
As chairman of a new group—
Visions of Cullen Park— she began holding monthly meetings where ideas for revitalizing the near 60-year-old marina were discussed. Soon,
Stader connected with Dale Rupert, a city engineer who had attempted a project which had recently been shelved, to dredge the Ottawa River.
“So I said, do you know what? I’m going to try and dredge Cullen Park,” Rupert said. “And I talked to my boss, and he says, ‘I go fishing out of there! Absolutely!’”
Dredging up the past
Through the combined efforts of Rupert and the members of Visions, a $400,000 grant from Ohio Department of Natural Resources (combined with a $100,000 match by the City of Toledo) was secured to dredge an 80-foot area in Cullen Park’s waterway. The anchor that now sits by the park’s entrance was found during the process.
Numerous other improvements and additions to the park have been spearheaded by Visions members. New benches and kiosks were added. A long-closed toll booth at the entrance to the park was removed. The parking lot was resurfaced. A new, floating kayak dock and a fishing dock were built, giving kayakers and fishermen separate areas.
A personal project
“We received $2 million in grants— and that’s not counting other projects that we have done,” Stader said, referring to projects such as the kayaking dock, accomplished with donations and the labor of Visions member Bob Pulhaj.
“That was four months of my life building that, every day,” Pulhaj said. “I’m retired, but I went back to work to do that, so to speak.”
Members of Visions, who still meet every month to address future renovations and upkeep of the park, say they can see the impact around their community.
“Business is improving up here, and I think this (the park) is the catalyst,” Rupert— now co-chair of Visions— said. “It’s amazing what a park can do.”
For more information, visit cullenpark.org
