Cleveland Metroparks Hunting Beach Project finished on time in spite of...

Six months ago during the brutal cold of Cleveland winter and in the middle of a life altering pandemic Cleveland Metroparks shouldered on with a major renovation project that had been planned for Huntington Beach. The popular park which is situated in Bay Village, Ohio has long been a favorite picnic and beach area for those living in Northeast, Ohio.

The plan was to renovate the existing water tower, expand what had been the Honey Hut Ice Cream Stand, and as part of the Sunset Picnic Plaza addition add a fire pit with Adirondack chairs, scores of picnic tables and bike racks as well as renovate the huge picnic pavilion located on the eastern section of the park. All this was to be completed before Memorial Day Weekend 2021.

As visitors can now attest...they did it and did it superbly. The central focus of the renovation is "The Noshery" which is an expanded version of the former Huntington Beach Honey Hut Ice Cream Shop that will feature not only the same delicious Honey Hut Ice Cream but other made to order food items such as braided soft pretzels, nosh salad and crispy Walley sandwiches. Another huge addition will be the ability to purchase craft beers and cocktails from several Ohio based micro breweries. Another change to the park is the addition of ADA accessible restrooms and changing facilities.

The !.6 million Huntington Reservation Enhancement Project came about through the generous support of families and individuals as well as proceeds from the Emerald Necklace Endowment Fund. The Sunset Picnic Plaza was constructed by project partner Ground Works Land Design which is an award winning Westlake firm.

The Noshery will officially open on Friday, May 28, 2021 and will be open the entire Memorial Day weekend from noon to 9 p.m. Summer hours will be Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. Also slated for the area are bench swings that will allow additional lake viewing and will be completed later this summer.