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Hueston Woods pavilion could give educators access to an outdoor classroom

<p>Helaine Alessio (left) and Ron Overly (right) are leading the way in laying the groundwork for the planned pavilion in Heuston Woods.</p>

Helaine Alessio (left) and Ron Overly (right) are leading the way in laying the groundwork for the planned pavilion in Heuston Woods.

Imagine having class outside in a place protected from the elements where you can still enjoy the breeze and sun. This may be a dream for many, but for students of Miami University, it could soon be reality with a planned pavilion in Hueston Woods. 

Hueston Woods State Park was established in 1957 and is located 4 miles north of campus. It offers plenty of green space surrounding Acton Lake, with hiking and mountain biking trails woven throughout. 

Now, a public outdoor pavilion that will double as an outdoor classroom is being built on the western side of the park. 

Helaine Alessio, a professor and chair in the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Health, is the mastermind behind this idea and its journey to fruition. 

For the last 12 years, she has been teaching KNH 402, a capstone class that focuses on personal and ecological health. Each year during the last few weeks of the course, students prepared the mountain biking trails for use, with each class improving them year after year. 

“[It’s] a great learning experience because it showed how you can make an impact in nature in such a short time,” said Gavin Schoelkopf, a former student of Alessio’s who is pursuing his master’s degree in exercise science. “I woke up on Fridays excited to help and it stopped feeling like a class.” 

During this process, Alessio did not have a place to meet or escape the elements. She noticed how the area surrounding the mountain bike trail was of particular interest to the surrounding community and would often see picnickers, sledders and birders. However, there was no structure to gather. 

“The idea crossed my mind: We could raise funds to build a pavilion, shelter or gathering place,” Alessio said.

The vision for such a building included tool storage, public use by visitors and Miami University classes like her own. The first order of business in bringing this idea to life was acquiring the funds, which proved difficult to begin with. 

“[We] had a lot of failed proposals, sending them to different agencies, who were not interested in supporting brick and mortar type projects,” Alessio said. 

However, after a year of searching for funding, the Oxford Community Foundation was willing to put forth $10,000 for construction. On top of that, a private donor matched that total bringing the sum to $20,000. 

The lead engineer volunteering on the site is Ron Overly. He attended Miami in the ’70s and met his wife on campus. When he heard about this pavilion project, he was eager to help in any way he could. 

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For him, that meant aiding the state's approval and planning out where and how the structure is to be built. He is hopeful it should only be a few weeks before the proposal is approved, then they can begin planning and building the structure, which is only a two to three-week process on its own. Alessio predicts the pavilion will be ready by the spring semester.

Despite the monetary investment and time commitment required to build the pavilion, Alessio and Overly are deeply motivated to contribute what they can. 

“As a student you didn't get out [to Hueston Woods] much,” Overly said when reflecting on his time at Miami. 

The relatively recent addition of the trails and bird blinds have already provided more opportunities for students to explore Hueston Woods since then. Now with the pavilion being built, Alessio hopes it will make the park even more accessible. The pavilion is planned to be ADA-accessible.

“It's a way to make a significant and sustainable contribution to community and public health to provide a place for people to gather and make it a fun place to go,” Alessio said. “If it can help facilitate people's interest in going outside and pursuing healthy activities, to me that’s the big goal.” 

Hueston Woods has always been close in proximity to Miami, but never before has it been utilized in the exciting ways of recent years. Thanks to Alessio, Overly and many other volunteers, this pavilion will be another great addition to the park for the Oxford and Miami community to enjoy for years to come.

neelysn@miamioh.edu




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