AURORA, Ohio (WJW) -- Since the closing of what once were the Geauga Lake and SeaWorld amusement parks, the city of Aurora has had a vision for their 48 acres, which lie within the city limits.
"We have plans to redevelop the area into a public park and we have a great consultant that we have already been working with, MKSK, and they have some wonderful creative ideas," said Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin.
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On Friday, the city officially closed on a $5.3 million deal to acquire the land and move forward, officially turning its vision into a reality.
"It's a great day," said Benjamin.
"We will have a beautiful park right on a beautiful spring-fed lake for people to enjoy for years to come, and that's really what I ultimately wanted. So, I'm very excited," she said.
The deal, which has taken years to execute, includes four different deeds, giving the city the land that was mostly SeaWorld and then a water park that closed for good in 2016.
It also includes the lake.
On the Bainbridge side of Geauga Lake, work is well underway creating a mixed-use development of apartments and shops.
That was not what Aurora wanted for the land within its borders.
"Seeing the Aurora side, which was primarily SeaWorld, see it go to retail or residential development was not what I wanted for our beautiful city, and I really wanted to preserve access to the lake for public enjoyment," said Benjamin.
As soon as Friday, engineers were expected on the property to inspect what had been a wave pool to assess its current condition.
The big picture plan for the property incorporates some of the old park features.
"It's not going to be an amusement park, or a water park. It's just going to be a different kind of park with water amenities. We hope to have a beach and a pool and I think those will really be our first focus of development," the mayor told FOX 8 News on Friday
Some conceptual drawings of what is envisioned were released several years ago.
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Officially closing on the purchase of the property Friday means that the city can move forward with its consultants to take the project from vision to reality.
"We have a lot of planning to do," said Benjamin.
"We are going to need parking and roadways and paths to make it all work, plus never mind utilities," she said.
"We had a vision and, you know, it's taken many steps just to get to this point of actually closing on the acquisition of the property, but I have no doubt that we will make the vision come true."
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