Gibsonburg: Logyard Park was 3-year project

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The Village of Gibsonburg marked the completion of a park in the downtown area with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
Village officials say The Logyard project exemplifies the results of community collaboration.
What used to be an abandoned gas station at 201 W. Madison St. is now a park that features walkways, tables and benches, landscaping, fencing, a shelter house, and an entrance archway. The Gibsonburg Hall of Fame wall mural is also located across the street from the park. Standing at the center of the park is an 8 ½-foot hand carved statue named Spirit – the Golden Bear mascot of Gibsonburg High School.
The park – covering about a half acre - establishes a centralized location where the community can gather for events such as farmers markets, concerts, and movie nights, Marc Glotzbecker, village administrator, said.
“With the exception of paving, everything has been done by local contractors,” Glotzbecker said. “We (the village) owned a part of it, mostly where the parking area sits. The portion where the park area sits is where the gas station used to sit.”
The park site has for generations been referred to by residents as the logyard and there didn’t seem to be any reason to change it, he said. “The area had historical significance to the community. So the thinking was we could change the name but everyone was still going to call it the logyard so let’s keep it. I think it had a lot to do with the train tracks running right alongside and back in the day there were materials stored right next to it.”
The park project began in 2021 and was completed last month.
The village received grants totaling about $350,000 from the state capital budget, Community Development Block Grant Target of Opportunity fund, and Natureworks funding as well as $50,000 from its general fund for the project.
“Because of the condition of the gas station and the property, it was something we wanted to have done either by the property owner or somehow, if we could obtain it, we were going to turn it into a downtown area that everyone could be proud of,” Glotzbecker said. “With luck we were able to obtain it and we started the process of the grant writing and getting everything in line.”
The Chamber of Commerce of Sandusky County joined with the village in the ribbon-cutting celebration.